


A New Adventure

by the_awkward_outlaw



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Derives from cannon, F/M, Fluff, Modern Day, Smut, Video Game: Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018), Wild West, arthur morgan - Freeform, yeehaw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:01:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 27,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22633150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_awkward_outlaw/pseuds/the_awkward_outlaw
Summary: This work will comprise of mainly head cannons and possibly one-shots. Arthur Morgan is transported from 1899 to 2020 where he meets you/your character. You take him along and introduce him to the modern world and everything it has to offer, the good and the bad. Will he stay to explore more of the world and to discover more of your relationship, or will he find a way back to his time and the gang he's been with for so long?
Relationships: Arthur Morgan & Original Female Character(s), Arthur Morgan/Reader
Comments: 80
Kudos: 178





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Please take note that the majority of this work takes place in Utah (many of the activities will take place in things that are in Utah that I am taking inspiration from). I am open to requests and ideas! Also note you don't need to read these in any particular order, but I suggest you read the intro if you haven't already. If you have one you'd like to read, send it in!!!! If you like what you read, leave a kudos and I love reading comments! Also, I do quite a few one shots, but I post most of them on Tumblr. Come find me @the-awkward-outlaw

Warnings: none  


Word count: ~2300

You’re walking in the park by your home. It’s something you like to do every day with your dog, not only to give her exercise but so you can get some too. After all, working in an office at a desk doesn’t allow you to walk around much.  


The park is pretty and you’re lucky to be living just down the street from it. It sits at the foot of a mountain range in your home valley. Right now, there’s some snow on the ground from a big storm that came through a few days ago, but it’s already melting. Perks of living in the west. Sure, winters are cold and long and the snow sucks worse, but at least it only sticks around for a few days. You love living out here though. The mountains are beautiful, you wouldn’t trade them for hardly anything.  


You walk along the west side of the park right at the base of the mountain. There’s a small cave there, it only goes back about twenty feet and the local kids like to go play in there, and sometimes the older kids go in there to smoke or drink. Luckily because you live in a small neighborhood that isn’t close enough to the big city, kids smoking is about the worst that happens out here. You’ve been inside the cave once. There’s a weird drawing on the back wall, but several people have left their artists marks behind in it, so you’ve never thought anything of it.  


As you begin approaching, Sage, your Bernese mountain dog, begins barking at it. Strange. She rarely barks and she’s been past this cave pretty much every day since you’ve had her. Maybe there’s a racoon or a skunk in there tonight.  


You tell Sage to shush and continue walking towards the cave. She settles down but still growls. You begin thinking of other things and forgetting about her behavior when a man steps out of the cave. You recognize him, not by his face, but his outfit. He’s dressed as Arthur Morgan from your favorite video game Red Dead Redemption 2. You smile at him. Cosplayers are a pretty big deal in your state, thanks to the rise of your local comic book convention. However, he’s dressed up for the wrong time for the con, it’s not until 

September. It’s only February. And why the hell would this cosplayer be in the cave dressed up? Weird.  


You keep walking. Sage wags her tail at him but continues on with you, no longer growling. She probably could smell him and not see him, explaining the barking. She’s an overly friendly dog so you’re not worried about her.  


The man looks around as though he’s no idea where he is. Maybe he’s on something. As you get closer, you think he’s an exceptional Arthur Morgan. He looks just like him. Not only are his clothes exactly like the character’s, even worn and dirty in the right spots, his face is exactly like him. Broad shoulders, tanned skin, light stubble on his jawline and unkempt hair under his iconic hat. You can even see the bald spot on his chin where Arthur has a scar.  


He continues looking around, confused, and then he spots you. You’re too close to just ignore him so you smile.  


“Nice cosplay!” you say.  


“Excuse me?” he says. Man, he even sounds like Arthur!  


“I said, nice cosplay! You going to a costume party or something.”  


“A what? Lady, I ain’t got no clue what you’re saying.”  


You’ve stopped by this point to look at him, giving him a confused smile. “Man, you’re really in character too! I gotta admire that. I’m a cosplayer too but I can never stay in character. Kudos to you though!”  


You’re tempted to ask for a picture, but it seems perhaps a little inappropriate. He’s looking at you like you’re a freak, as if he wasn’t the one who just popped out of a cave.  


“Well, have a good night,” you say, walking on.  


“Uh, sure I guess. Hey, ma’am?” he jogs up to you and stops a few feet from you. He’s beginning to weird you out. Just because you live in a small neighborhood doesn’t mean you don’t know how dangerous people can be, particularly men. Besides, if he’s on something, he could be even more of a threat. You keep a tight leash on Sage. She’s not likely to attack him, but you don’t want him to know how much of a pushover pooch she is.  


“Sorry, ma’am, guess I’m just a little lost. Um, maybe ya can help me?”  


“Sure, I guess. What you wanna know?”  


“Well, where the hell am I, for starters.”  


You tell him the name of your town, keeping a hard eye on him.  


“Where is that exactly? Are we in New Hanover? Or West Elizabeth maybe?”  


“Oh boy, you really are selling this cosplay, ain’t you? Well, okay. I’ll play along. Mr. Morgan, you are in Utah.”  


“Utah?” he says. He looks away and mouths the word. You know that Utah wasn’t a state until 1896, three years before Red Dead 2 takes place. Boy, this guy is really selling this.  


“Yeah. Come on, dude, quit playing. Your cosplay is on point, in fact everything about you is on point. But… come on, man what’s your name?”  


“Well, seems you already know my last name, miss. Name’s Arthur. Arthur Morgan.”  


“Still playing, huh?” you say with a sigh. “Fine, have it your way.” You wonder if he’s one of those people with an illness that makes him believe he’s someone else. Like Teddy from Arsenic and Old Lace, who firmly believed he was Theodore Rosevelt. “Well, come on,” you say, wondering if you need to call the police or have him checked into a hospital.  


“Ma’am, I promise you I ain’t crazy and I ain’t playin’ whatever you think I’m playin’. Tell me, is it still 1899?’”  


“What? Dude, come on. It’s 2020.”  


“2020!” he cuts you off. “What the hell?” He looks around again and towards the east side of the park where the rec center and playground is, and beyond that the main road, busy with cars heading home for the night. His look of confusion and even fear is so genuine that you wonder what’s really going on.  


“Look, mister. What was the last thing you were doing before coming here?”  


He looks at you for a moment before answering. “I was in Big Valley collectin’ orchids for some crazy feller. I walked into this cave and saw a dinosaur bone. Some lady, don’t remember what she called herself, said she’d pay me for locations of bones. I went over to mark it and I saw this weird symbol on the wall. I touched it and the mouth of the cave got wickedly bright, it got hot, and when the light went away, I stepped out here.”  


He looks around again. “You seen a horse anywhere?”  


You look at him sadly. This poor, deluded man. Truly believes he’s Arthur Morgan, picking flowers for that collector in Saint Denis and finding bones for the paleontologist lady. You wonder who this man identified with before Red Dead 2 came out in 2018.  


“Mister, only rich people own horses. There’s some about a mile north, but they don’t belong to you I don’t think.”  


He looks at you, confused again.  


“Come on, mister,” you say, beckoning him to follow. “Let me, um… I think you need to see someone.”  


You begin walking again but he calls to you.  


“Still don’t believe me, do ya miss?”  


“Listen to yourself!” you say. “Arthur Morgan is from a video game. A video game! He’s not real, but you are. Please sir, I think you need help.”  


“Lady, I don’t know what the hell a video game is, but I can prove I am real and I am Arthur Morgan!”  


He reaches into his satchel and pulls out a slightly ruffled looking orchid. The kind you know from playing the game grows in Big Valley in West Elizabeth, in the forest where the pigs and cougars spawn. He then pulls out a newspaper and hands it to you.  


The newspaper’s called “Saint Denis Times” and it’s dated June 18, 1899. The top headline is reporting the bloody massacre of the Grey family in Rhodes. You’ve read the newspapers in the game once before and you remember the article. It’s exactly the same as the one from the game. He then pulls out his pocketwatch. It’s worn and dirty just like the one from the game.  


He continues pulling out more objects, even some dried meat. As he shows you more things, you inspect the guns in his holsters. They look real. In his holster on his right hip, you see the double-action revolver with its gold barrel and white handle. You see the engraving of a stag’s head on it.  


The more he shows you, the more you find it hard to believe he’s not the real Arthur Morgan. But how in the hell is this possible? It can’t be and yet here he is. He even pulls out his journal. He doesn’t open it, you’re not surprised. You’ve played the game enough to know he’d never show you what’s inside (even though you’ve already seen it). Everything he’s shown you seems so genuine, so real. Something inside you says he’s not making it up, but how in the hell can it be real? There’s no logic to it!  


You tell him to put his things away as you try to think how this could have happened. Arthur, or whatever his real name is, asks to show you the drawing he touched in the cave. You say okay, but keep a firm grip on the pepper spray in your pocket (you never go anywhere without it). The man leads you to the cave and you pull out your phone and turn on the flashlight.  


“What is that?” he asks to the slim device in your hand, trying to stare into the light, flabbergasted by it.  


“It’s a phone,” you say, continuing on in the cave. Sage sniffs along the ground happily, but as you approach the back, she starts barking. The same way she was before the man came out of the cave.  


“That’s it,” he says, pointing to it. The drawing looks like some strange symbol. Although you’ve studied some anthropology and symbolism, you’ve never been able to place the culture or meaning of the symbol and just assumed some kid did it. However, getting closer to it, you see it’s been carved into the rock and looks like it’s been there for a long time.  


Arthur grabs your shoulder. “Don’t get closer to it, miss. I ain’t too sure what it is, but… well, it ain’t good I think. It’s what I touched and that’s how I ended up here.”  


You heed his warning and take a few steps back. You take a picture of it so you can do some research. You aren’t too sure what to do at this point. Something tells you that you can’t take this man to the hospital, and calling the cops wouldn’t do any good. However, the sun’s setting and you have to work in the morning. All your logic says he can’t stay with you, this isn’t a Disney movie after all. He might be playing an elaborate hoax or something.  


“You still don’t believe me, do you?” he asks.  


“How can I?” you demand. “I mean, listen to yourself! You can’t be Arthur Morgan! He’s from a video game!”  


The man sighs and walks over to the wall, placing his hand on the symbol. Sage begins barking like crazy and the opening of the cave becomes too bright to look at and the cave fills with hot air. After a few seconds, the light dims and it cools.  


You step outside the cave and find yourself standing in Big Valley. You’re in awe. Somehow, you’ve been transported to 1899 into the game of Red Dead. A pig somewhere nearby squeals and you see, maybe 50 feet away, a huge Ardennes warhorse. She snorts at Arthur.  


“You believe me now, miss?” he asks.  


You nod, still unable to speak.  


“Good. I… I have to admit, I wasn’t sure that’d work.”  


You finally look at him understandingly. “I’m sorry, Arthur. I didn’t think it was possible.”  


“I can understand why, miss. I wouldn’t believe it myself if it hadn’t happened to me.” He looks around and then begins to cough.  


“Shit, Arthur. You okay?”  


“Yeah,” he says, spitting into the grass and wiping his mouth. You see the small line of blood left away.  


“Arthur, you have TB, don’t you?”  


He looks at you, shocked. “How… how do you know that? I only saw a doctor for it two days ago.”  


Where to begin with this, you wonder. “Um… it’ll take some explaining, but come on. Let’s see if we can go back and I can get you some medicine for it.”  


“You mean… there’s a cure for it where you come from?”  


“Well, sort of. We don’t have a cure, per say, but we do have antibiotics. They’ll kick your ass just about as much as the bacteria, but at least you’re more likely to live.”  


He looks at you and you see a glimmer of hope. “Okay. I’ll go with you, miss.”  


You head back into the cave and touch the symbol. It surprisingly works again and you’re taken back to your time and your park. You’ll take Arthur to a doctor, but you have to drop Sage off at your house and get a car. You have to smile to yourself as you tell Arthur to walk with you. What an adventure this is going to be.


	2. Proceeding Genesis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are head cannons, so the format is not how I usually do it.

Getting Arthur to the doctor’s is no easy task. Walking back to your small home, he’s distracted by everything: the houses, the lawns, cars parked on the street. Everything is foreign to him.  
He keeps asking where the horses are and you explain horses and carriages have been replaced by automobiles and that people stopped using horses as a main mode of transportation back in the 1920s. 

Your dog Sage is in love with the cowboy. She keeps sniffing him and licking his hand as you walk home. He thinks she’s adorable and keeps patting her head.  
Arthur patiently waits in your yard while you put Sage in your house and grab your car keys and wallet. You try thinking about how to get him meds when he’s not insured or even licensed in modern forms. 

Getting Arthur into the car is almost a joke. He’s fascinated by your car (a small sedan) and can’t believe this little machine replaced horses and buggies. He’s even more surprised when you tell him it can go over 90 miles an hour. He states he can’t even fathom how fast that is.  
He finally sits down in the front leather passenger seat. You turn on the seat warmer out of habit and he finds it weird to have his back and butt being warmed by a chair rather than the other way around. 

You start playing a rather neutral playlist of some movie scores so as not to shock him too much. He can’t understand how your phone tells your car what kind of music to play. You tell him what little you know about Bluetooth and he scoffs. “Waves I cannot see,” he says, just like he does in the game with that Marco Dragic guy. You suppress a smile. 

He’s in awe when the car moves and how smooth of a ride it is. You try not to speed (you have a horrible habit of not sticking to the speed limit. Common problem in Utah), so that the speed won’t startle him or make him sick. He can’t understand why everyone moves so uniformly, but he also seems to see nothing but chaos in the way the other cars react to the traffic lights.  
He asks constant questions about everything he sees, and you debate how much to tell him about things before his brain simply can’t process anything. Shit, if he weren’t already sick, you wouldn’t even be doing this! But observing him at a red light, you see the paleness to his face, the redness in his eyes. He cannot wait anymore. 

Once you get to the instacare office, you’re relieved to see your cousin at the desk. She’s a nurse who works here and you’ve been close most of your lives. You pull her aside and tell her without spilling too many details that Arthur needs meds for active TB. She gives you a worried look when you mention he has no insurance, but says she might be able to pull a few strings to put the meds onto yours so the price will be cheaper. 

Finally, after talking with her for some time and filling out several forms in which you have to do a lot of guessing, the doc comes out and calls Arthur’s name. Everyone gives Arthur questioning looks, thanks to the fact he’s still in his rugged, dusty clothes. 

Arthur gives you a horrified look but you nod and send him on his way. (Author’s note: I know that in realistic situations, they’d give him a TB test that would take two days to develop into a readable outcome, but we’re going to skip that.) 

Some time passes and then Arthur comes out with a few slips of paper in his hand. He hands them to you, asking what they are. They’re prescriptions for some very heavy medications, including antibiotics. You finish the last bit of paperwork and thank your cousin again for helping put him on your insurance for this visit. 

You drive to the closest grocery store and tell Arthur to stay in the car while you go pick up his meds from the pharmacy. You also firmly tell him not to touch anything, afraid he might accidentally make it so the AC or heater nearly blasts you into space when you come back or he’ll adjust the seats or mirrors or something. He raises his hands to show he won’t touch anything. 

You feel kind of bad leaving him alone, but taking him into a grocery store right now with everything else would be a bad thing. Too much stimulation, you think. 

When you see how much the meds will cost, you thank God that your insurance provides a spending account to cover meds. You’re also relieved when you see one of the bags has an inhaler in it. The doc must have decided he wasn’t bad enough to need oxygen, not yet anyways. But you know from playing the game he will have a matter of weeks without these medications.  
You take Arthur home and then decide, against your better judgement, to let him inside. He promises over and over again that he won’t take advantage of your kindness. 

He’s in awe again when he sees the inside of your home. It’s definitely nothing fancy and has the essentials of a modern home, but you remind yourself the homes he’s used to: one room cabins with gas ovens and rickety furniture, sometimes with a loft for the occupants to sleep. 

You unpack his meds and figure out what his medication schedule needs to be. You pull out three different large pills and tell him to take them now. You also show him how to work the inhaler and tell him that whenever he feels short of breath or tightening in the chest to use it. You then demand he hand over his cigarettes, throwing them in your trash. He complains, but you tell him the health problems associated with them and how they’ll only make his condition worse. 

After he’s taken his meds, you show Arthur your spare bedroom. Your mother used to sleep here when she visited from her home down south, but now that she has her new boyfriend, you hardly see her. Not that you mind, she tends to be a nuisance. 

Arthur expresses his gratitude several times. You can see the lost sheep’s look in his eyes still and feel sorry for him. Maybe it would be better if you gave him his meds and sent him back to the cave and to West Elizabeth. 

When you suggest this, he automatically turns you down. He’s fascinated by your world and his gang has suffered so much trouble lately, his heart can’t bear what else might come.  
It takes a bit of convincing on his part, but you finally decide to let him stay for a few days until he figures out what he wants to do. He thanks you again and offers you a ring as payment. In the game, it must be worth about 8 dollars. Nowadays, probably much more, but you turn him down. 

You go out to the kitchen to begin cooking dinner after Arthur gets established in his room. He comes out to watch you and offers to help, but he’s so lost in your small kitchen, you tell him to just sit down at the table. 

He does and Sage automatically rests her head on his knee, begging for pets. Arthur seems to be in love already with your dog. Not a surprise, most people do with her.  
You cook a quick meal of some Kraft Mac for time’s sake since you do have to get up early and go to work. Arthur’s fascinated by the stove. He finds it strange that every house has an electric stove and oven. 

He finds the food you cook even more strange and makes a goofy face after the first bite. It’s obvious he’s not a fan but he graciously eats it without saying a word. 

After you clean up dinner, you’d normally go and watch a show before going to bed, but you decide that might not be the best thing to do with Arthur just yet. It’s obvious he’s tired from everything he’s seen today, plus he obviously doesn’t feel good. 

You decide to just read a book instead for the night. Arthur stays in your living room, investigating everything. He finds your movie shelf and pulls out a DVD. He opens it. “Is this what books are like these days?” 

“What?” you say, coming out of your room and holding a book in your hand. “No, Arthur, that’s a movie. I’ll, um, I’ll show you what a movie is tomorrow. Books still look like this.” You show him the one in your hand. 

He takes the book and studies the front cover of The Hunger Games. It’s one of your favorite series and you figure if Arthur wants to read it with you, he might be only semi-lost. He flips open to a random page and reads silently, then he closes it. 

“Well, at least that’s one thing that ain’t changed,” is all he says. 

You look a bit at his clothes, still rugged and dirty from his adventures. Unfortunately, you’ve no clothes for men except for your dad’s favorite shirt in your cedar chest. He used to wear it a lot before he passed away. You offer to throw his clothes in the washer and also offer him a bath.

He agrees, though you can tell he’s nervous about you seeing him in less than what he’s wearing. You have to reassure him time and time again that you’ve seen more naked people watching TV. 

You show him how to work the tub. He’s amazed by how hot water pours from the spout. 

He finally gives in and goes into the bathroom, handing you his clothes through the cracked door. 

You throw his clothes into the washer, but not after taking a slightly guilty sniff of his shirt. You won’t ever admit it to anyone, but you’ve always wondered what Arthur would smell like. Sure, maybe you harbor a cyber-crush on him, but again it’s not something you’d tell anyone. Especially not him. You smell his shirt and are surprised when it smells like pine and grass.  
You throw his clothes into the washer and set a timer on your phone to change it in about 40 minutes. 

When you pass the bathroom to go to your bedroom, you can hear Arthur’s deep voice humming a tune you’ve heard him sing when he’s riding his horse. It makes you smile.  
After he’s done bathing, he comes out wearing your bathrobe (which barely closes over his broad chest) and a towel wrapped around his waist. 

You have to avert your eyes from his chest, trying to hide the blush. He’s blushing too. 

He decides to wait in the spare room until his clothes are done. You tell him it’ll be about an hour and a half. 

When his clothes are finally finished, you hand them back to him. A few moments later, he opens the door, revealing himself in nothing but his union suit and pants. 

You announce you’re going to bed and so you go into your room with Sage. For good measure, you lock the door. You don’t know why you’re so paranoid about Arthur in your house. If he wanted to attack you, he’s had plenty of opportunities to do it. Still, you can’t help but feel a little safer knowing the door’s locked. 

It takes you awhile to fall asleep. You hear, through the thin walls of your home, the soft rumble of Arthur as he snores. You wonder what the next few days will bring.


	3. Introducing Arthur to Movies

  * Having a cowboy transported from 1899 isn’t easy. After only being around him for one night, he seems to be partially in shock the next morning from everything he’s experienced so far. 
  * You get up earlier than usual in order to show him around the house so he can entertain himself while you’re at work. 
  * You tell him not to go outside for anything. You promise him in a while you’ll introduce him to the rest of the world, but for now he needs to take it slow. He’s more than happy to listen to your advice. 
  * You’re about to show him around the house when he stops you and says he doesn’t even know your name. You tell him and he smiles. “Glad to put a name to my guardian angel,” he says. You try your best to hide your blush. 
  * You show him where food is stored so he can feed himself with some snacks while you’re at work. He says he’s fine with what’s in his satchel. 
  * After serving up two bowls of cereal, he tells you he likes them, but you can’t tell if he’s being honest or just being nice. 
  * Arthur sits on the couch when you tell him as you try to find something for him to watch to keep him occupied while you’re at work. You tell him you’ll try to get off early, but to not hope. 
  * You don’t want to introduce Arthur to anything too plot heavy or CGI heavy. In the end, you find a show on Netflix that runs over events of history in America from the early 1800’s to the early 2000’s. Figuring this would be a perfect show to help him learn what’s happened in the past 120 years, you flip it on.
  * Arthur’s immediately shocked by the moving pictures on your screen. It’s just the intro scene, the narrator stating what the first episode will cover with some minor graphics rolling across the screen. You explain it’s just like the tent in Valentine with the moving pictures, only far more advanced. 
  * After Arthur’s initial fright, he starts focusing on the TV, listening and watching. You sigh and hope it’ll suffice while you’re at work. 
  * You try not to laugh at the confused look on his face, but you can tell he’s drawn into the show. 
  * While he watches his show, you bring out your makeup and a pocket mirror. His eyes abandon the screen to watch you apply your makeup.
  * “I don’t remember the last time I seen a lady wear makeup. Maybe the bar gals in Valentine.” 
  * You laugh. “Yeah, well in order to look professional and presentable, I have to wear makeup, Arthur.” 
  * He doesn’t understand why and thinks it makes you look less genuine and real, an opinion you secretly agree with him on. You tell him to look at it less like makeup and more like war paint. He doesn’t seem to understand that either and you decide not to go further into it. 
  * Once you’re dressed and ready for work, you pause and look at him. You wish there was a way to look in on him or have some way to contact him should he need anything. In the end, you do your best to explain how the TV remote works so if his show runs out of episodes, he can turn on something else. He says he remembers what you showed him but you don’t believe him. 
  * He comforts you a little by telling you if he runs out of something to watch and can’t figure out the remote, he’s more than happy to raid your bookshelf and find something. 
  * You remind him one last time not to go outside and to not answer the door if someone knocks. You’re glad your dog is there to keep him company. She’s clearly in love with him as she settles onto his lap. 
  * Just before closing the front door behind you, you look one last time at Arthur. He’s left his hat off as he watches the screen. You hope he’ll be fine. You decide on your way to work, you’ll pick up one of those cheap disposable cell phones and try to teach him how to use it. 
  * This is going to be a long day at work, you tell yourself. 
  * Once you get home, you find Arthur passed out on the couch. You’re not surprised, the poor man’s been through hell and back with his gang, not to mention his illness must be taking a significant toll. 
  * The TV’s been turned off and you’re happy to see the house is in order. Arthur’s been respectful and hasn’t moved any of your things, not even food from the fridge or cabinets despite you inviting him to help himself. 
  * You get dinner going (spiced chicken with herb-roasted potatoes). He walks into the kitchen and greets you, thanking you again for the hospitality. You can practically hear him groan from the smell of the food cooking. You ask him if he’s eaten anything.
  * “Not really,” he admits. He tells you he ate a few things from his satchel but felt bad about taking any of your food since you’ve been so kind to him. 
  * You show him how to operate the stove and the oven, trying to encourage him to feed himself when you’re gone. You tell him he has to eat regularly in order to keep his strength up and that it’ll only help him get better that much quicker. 
  * He blushes at how much you’re fussing over him and he gives you an odd smile before hiding his eyes beneath his hat. 




	4. Motion of Things to Come

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been distant lately! I have been doing a lot of writing on my Tumblr blog, mostly oneshots and reader requests. Come find me @the-awkward-outlaw and send in a request!

Warnings: spoilers 

  * A week has passed since you found Arthur. He’s adjusted better than you thought to life inside your home. Over the weekend, you even took him to the grocery store for your weekly trip. You told him if it got to be too overwhelming to let you know and you’d leave and come back another day, but he took it very well. He asked a lot of questions that attracted funny glances from a few people, but he seemed fascinated by it.
  * He was even more fascinated when a guy on a motorcycle zoomed past you on the way home. Despite it being February and still the middle of winter, it was a warm day. Not unusual for Utah. People always take advantage of the warm weather when it comes around. 
  * You can tell Arthur’s getting stir crazy in your home, being cooped up all the time, spending long hours alone while you’re at work. Sage, your dog, is his only company. You feel bad, but you just can’t risk him getting into trouble. 
  * It’s Friday afternoon and you decide to take him for a walk in the park where you met him. Since it’s at the foot of a mountain, he’s welcome to explore it. It’s not pretty by any terms, mostly just dead grass and some dried up sage bushes, dormant in the winter, but it’s still outdoors. 
  * Arthur’s mood picks up quite a lot more than you thought it would as you walk down the street towards the park. You let him hold Sage’s leash (you’ll let her off once you actually hit the park). Arthur doesn’t stare as much as he did when you first met him. 
  * Despite his frustrations at being cooped up, he’s been sweet and kind to you. You know from playing the game he has a quick temper, but it hasn’t shown. Perhaps he’s trying to keep it down because he knows how much you’re helping him, how much you’ve already helped him. He’s responding extremely well to the antibiotics. 
  * Once you reach the park, Sage goes running off, barking wildly purely for the fun of it. Arthur watches her with a fond smile. 
  * You ask him what he watched on Netflix today while you were at work. He’s long since finished that history series you started him off with and has tentatively ventured into more adventurous shows. He recently stumbled into the Planet Earth series and has found it fascinating. You’ve come home the last few days to find him sitting on the couch with his journal in hand, his eyes staring amazed at the animals on the screen. 
  * He talks about the most recent episode he saw, one documenting the migration patterns of wildebeest in Africa.
  * After a short period of comfortable silence, Arthur asks you about your job and if you like it. 
  * “It’s alright,” you say. “I’m just a processor now.” You explain what that is. “But I only have three more months to go before they decide if they want me as an appraiser. I have to take some classes if they say yes and then I can start working from home.” 
  * Arthur’s eyes brighten when you say that you can work remotely. He’s probably just happy to know he’ll have a companion that can actually talk back. 
  * When you reach the cave where he came out of, with the funny drawing that ended up being the portal that brought him here, you both stop.
  * “You ever think of going back?” you ask, fearing the answer.
  * “Yes,” he says. “But I don’t know if I can. Not unless I wanna die.” When you ask what he’s talking about, he admits that a few days ago, he snuck out of the house and went back to West Elizabeth. Everything was exactly the way it was when he left. His horse was even nibbling on the same patch of grass. However, he said the full effects of his TB slammed into him. It was as though he’d never taken any of the medicine. When he returned here, he was back to healing and he did feel better. 
  * “Guess that means that unless I wanna die, I’m stayin’ with you,” he finishes. 
  * Your stomach does a backflip. Of course, you doubt anything will ever happen between the two of you. He probably finds you weird or is just uninterested in you in that way. Not that you blame him. It’s not like anyone’s ever found you attractive, desirable or even remotely interesting. 
  * “So I guess when it comes to your world, it’s like a Narnia thing,” you say. 
  * “A what?” he says brusquely. 
  * “Nevermind,” you say quickly. You’ll show him those types of movies when he’s a bit more familiar with movies that have a lot of CG and thick plots in them. 
  * You keep walking away from the cave, following the natural trails around the foot of the mountain. Sage looks back on the pair of you every few moments, wagging her tail furiously. 
  * “Shit,” you say, looking ahead. Further up the trail, you see a pair of female deer grazing. Sage isn’t afraid of deer at all. Most dogs probably would be because of their size, but you’ve lived out here since before she was born and you got her as a puppy. She’s used to deer and she even likes to bark and chase them. One time though, a doe that probably had a fawn hidden close by got mean right back with her and nearly kicked her in the head. It took everything you had to get Sage’s attention and she ran back with a furious deer on her tail. 
  * Arthur just chuckles. “Ah, I wouldn’t be too worried,” he says. “She’s a smart girl.” 
  * “Yeah, but she has her stupid moments.” 
  * As if to prove a point, Sage looks at the deer hard, sniffs and then looks back at you. She trots back to you and then stares hard at the deer again. Then she gives a loud “borf” and the deer look up. Upon spotting you, they leap away into the grass and disappear. 
  * “See? Smarter than you think,” Arthur chuckles. 
  * Suddenly your hands bump into each other as you walk. You both pass awkward apologies and “it was my fault, you’re fine”. However, you can’t help but feel like your hand’s burning where his touched yours. 
  * The next morning, you take him to the Smith and Edwards Hardware store in the south end of the valley. You love coming here, it has all sorts of odds and ends for decent prices. It’s also definitely a store Arthur would like. There’s hunting gear, camping gear, things for owning and riding horses. And most importantly: clothes fit for a cowboy. 
  * After first meeting him, you bought him a couple of cheap shirts and jeans, but they were generic and, as mentioned, cheap. You could tell he didn’t like them and was fine wearing his blue button up shirt. 
  * When you get to the store and go to the shirt section, you spread your arms and say “Mr. Morgan, go find whatever clothes you like and pick to your heart’s desire!” 
  * “Morgan?” you hear a voice say. Turning around, you find a boy in his early twenties maybe. He’s looking hard at Arthur. “Hey, you do look just like Arthur Morgan! Nice cosplay, man! You’re killing it!” 
  * He asks Arthur to take a couple of pictures. Since you’ve introduced him to the widespread functions of phones already, he’s not shocked by the camera in the man’s hand. He is shocked that he recognized him, but he graciously takes photos with him with a flabbergasted smile.
  * When the man thanks him and walks off, Arthur turns to you. “A’right, spill,” he says. 
  * “What?” you say, trying to sound dumb. 
  * “How in the hell do so many people know me? You knew my name the second you set eyes on me and so did he. What, am I a historical figure or something?” He scoffs at this thought. 
  * “Not exactly,” you say. You haven’t brushed up on the game or video games at all in fact. 
  * “Listen, Arthur, I know it’s not ideal, but I will explain it all when it’s the right time. When you’ve gotten a little more used to… this world, I’ll show you. You might not like it though.” 
  * He just huffs. “Fine. But at least tell me the general idea of it. I deserve to know that much at least.” 
  * You really don’t want to do this in a store where other people can hear you, so you tell him you’ll explain it in the car. 
  * Arthur just shrugs his shoulders and goes around picking out a few shirts and two pairs of jeans. You browse the isles of vintage candy for a moment, stalling to go check out. How in the hell are you going to explain this?
  * The inevitable comes and soon you’re in the car, driving home with Arthur. He brings the subject up again. 
  * “Okay, Arthur. There’s something called a video game. Video games are a sort of… type of visual story telling but not like movies. You get to play the main character of the game and kind of experience it as if you were them. Well, a couple years back, a game came out that focused on you after things fell apart in Blackwater for the game. It follows you until…” 
  * “Until what?” he says in a deep growl. This is clearly not what he was expecting. 
  * “Well, until you end up… dying.” 
  * He sighs heavily. “It’s the TB, ain’t it?” 
  * You nod, deciding not to go into the complications of the four possible endings in the game. “Yeah. Then the game switches perspective to John Marston a few years after. It won a lot of awards and people raved that it changed the industry of video games. It made a lot of waves. Think about it, Arthur. You’re famous!” 
  * He sighs again and looks out the window. “Famous for dyin’ or bein’ a damn fool, I guess. I think… Dutch has changed, Y/N. When we got back from Guarma, and when we were there too, he just… liked killin’ folk I think.”
  * You grab his hand and squeeze it reassuringly before you can stop yourself. “I know, Arthur. I’ve played the game. A few times, actually. And I know what happens to Dutch. But you try. You try your hardest to help him see reason and when that doesn’t work to get John and his family out. You’re a good man, Arthur.”
  * “I’m not, Y/N. You don’t know the things I done.” 
  * “But I do, Arthur. Obviously not everything, but I know a good chunk of it. I know a lot more than you think, in fact. Now I don’t have a lot of faith in people. Think everyone is out for themselves, more than happy to step on the little people. I’ve been one of them for longer than I care to admit. But trust me when I say I know you and you’re a good man. You may have made some poor decisions, but who hasn’t? We’ve all done things, said things, intentionally hurt people and later regretted it. But you try. You try to do better, to make up for them. Besides, no one’s inherently good or evil. We all have both inside us.” 
  * He sighs again and looks at you as you stop at a light. His hand flips up to meet yours and you swear you feel him squeeze it. “Thank you, Y/N. I got real lucky when I stepped out of that cave and bumped into you.” 
  * You’re glad the light turns green so you have an excuse to look away and hide your blush.




	5. Quarantini, anyone?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, dear readers! I know it's been a long time since this was updated. I have a few reasons for me passing over this one for like 3 months. For one, a lot of the stuff I had planned to help me write this fic was going to be based on things I had planned to do myself, like going to the zoo, the aquarium, up hiking, those types of things. Then Covid hit and everything changed, so I had no idea what to do with this.   
> Secondly, I started getting a literal ton of requests on Tumblr, so I went crazy writing those (and what a joy that has been!) I still have many many more to work on.   
> Thirdly I believed no one really was digging this fic, so I felt like I had no audience for it. That was until 2 weeks ago when I had about a dozen people either ask me directly or mention in other forms how much they wanted it to continue. Well, readers, thanks to all those of you who have been watching, I finally made an addition! I hope it isn't crap.

(Authors note: A lot of things, especially towards the end, are extremely fictional and have very little fact and I gloss over the aspect of time. Please don't hate me for that. I'm writing this purely for fun!)

  * Weeks before you'd met Arthur, you'd heard of the Corona virus. But it was in China then, certainly not a problem in your state.
  * After meeting Arthur though, the first case in Utah was reported. Still, it wasn't a bother. You thought nothing of it.
  * That was until, a few weeks later, news reports were that reported cases were skyrocketing. You looked up the symptoms and who was most at risk. Your heart dropped. Arthur was the perfect target as his immune system was highly affected by the TB. 
  * By this point, everyone in your office knew you had a roommate, but not much more than that. 
  * When you discovered Arthur was highly at risk, you decided not to take chances with him and asked to work remotely, to self quarantine. 
  * A week later has gone by and the entire state is in quarantine anyway. 
  * Arthur's confused. He's never heard of Covid, obviously. Why would he have? He finds it incredibly strange that a disease that was first reported in Asia has so quickly become a problem in the states. You have to explain internationality to him and how the entire world is basically connected.
  * Unlike the rest of the state, you decide not to go crazy and wipe out the shelves of toilet paper and other items. You're lucky in that you bought a large packet not long before this started. 
  * Still, the demand for certain items surprises you and Arthur. 
  * "What you supposed to do during a… quarantine like this?" he asks.
  * "I don't know, Arthur. The last big pandemic was during 1920 I think. Obviously long before my time." 
  * This is a whole new experience for both of you. 
  * Luckily you're easily able to set up an office at home so you can still work and not have to worry too much about money. However, your amount of work is affected.
  * You get worried rather quickly about how much work you're going to get. If you don't get work, you don't get paid. 
  * Arthur sees you worrying, even though you don't say anything. He tries to help lighten the load, but there's not much he can. 
  * Money is getting tight. You're starting to have to withdraw from savings. It doesn't help that Arthur will need a refill on his meds and they weren't cheap the first time. How the hell are you going to afford to take care of him and your dog?
  * Arthur is starting to worry about you. He knows how little sleep you've been getting, despite barely leaving the house. 
  * One night, Arthur sits you down on the couch before dinner and asks you to share your worries with him.
  * You've been so strong in front of him up to this point, not wanting him to see you as weak or pathetic. But that night, you break down. It helps to voice your worries, even though you know there's nothing he can do.
  * At least that's what you think.
  * The weekends are when you go to the store. Arthur's been coming with you more and more to the store. He likes to see what the world is like now. 
  * When you tell him to get ready to go to the store, he says he's not feeling very well. He has days where his TB is just worse than others. Although he's responding wonderfully to the medicine, it still seems to kick his ass. So he says he's going to stay home, get some rest. 
  * You bid him goodbye, saying you'll be longer than usual as you need to go to the pharmacy and get him more medicine. 
  * Your stomach drops when the pharmacist tells you the price. Thank God for your flex spending account, but it doesn't pay for the inhaler refills. Those you have to buy yourself, and it's nearly $100. You sigh. As much as you love having the Arthur Morgan as your roommate, right now is the worst time with this pandemic. 
  * When you get home and get the groceries carried in, Arthur puts a hand on your shoulder. 
  * "Y/N, before we put things away, I need to show you something." 
  * "Arthur, I got cold stuff. Will you help me? It'll be twice as quick." 
  * He gives you a sweet grin that makes you blush and agrees. Funny. You know what he's like on the days when he really doesn't feel good. He's usually lethargic and coughs a lot. Sometimes he even vomits. Once he fell unconscious and you had to drag him to bed (which was nearly impossible. He's a big, broad guy). 
  * Today though he's acting relatively normal. As you look a little harder at him as you move around the kitchen, putting things away, you notice he's got dirt on his skin, under his nails. His right elbow has a large scrape on it. 
  * As soon as everything's been put away, Arthur offers you his hand. This makes your stomach flip. He's never tried to hold your hand before this. 
  * He leads you into his bedroom and flips on the light. On his bed lies a large pile of money. Stacks and stacks of bills, piles of coins. What the hell?
  * After inspecting them, you notice the bills are not common day dollars. They're much bigger, the designs different. They're bills from the 1890's. The coins are exactly the same.
  * "I knew you was worried about money and I know I been a burden." You try to argue but he stops you. "So, when you was at the store, I snuck back to my world." 
  * He coughs as he says this. He's visited there a couple of times and every time he does, his TB comes back in full swing, making him relapse until he returns.
  * "I found a few treasure maps long before I got here," he continues. "So I managed to track 'em down. Also pulled a quick robbery on a bank stage. Anyways, thought this could be my way of contributing." 
  * You can't believe he's done this for you. You know Arthur has a soft, gentle side, but even you didn't expect this.
  * After counting the money, it all comes to over $1500. That will cover your expenses for over a month and adding what money you are making, you'll be fine. For a few months anyways and hopefully by that point, quarantine will be lifted. 
  * This all adds up and you realize you don't have to worry about money anymore. Arthur has done more for you than you could imagine and it brings tears to your eyes.
  * He's worried when he sees you beginning to cry, thinking he did something wrong. When you tell him it's because you're so grateful, he gives you another dazzling smile. 
  * "I just couldn't stand letting you do all the work and me just taking advantage. Maybe I'm just so used to helping folk I care about…" 
  * He's cut off by you hugging him. You're not a hugger, typically, but this has definitely earned him one. You hear him huff a little and he pats your back. 
  * "Thank you so much, Arthur." 
  * After doing some research on how to trade old bills for current ones, you end up with even more money because the money Arthur provided ends up being considered antique and "museum quality" (according to the appraiser). This means you leave with well over $50,000.
  * "Well well, Arthur," you say with a sly smile. "Turns out your robbing ways are still highly useful, even in my day." 



  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback has literally saved this fic's existence! Keep it coming!


	6. You put the scared people in, you put the scared people out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I did something similar to this in my requests collection, but it's a good segway for what's going to happen (and an event that I actually lived through this past March).

  * You’ve been stuck home in quarantine for nearly a week now. The change is a partial relief because you’ve honestly been needing a break, to recharge yourself (along with the rest of the world, it seems). You have a few plans around the house that you can focus on now. 
  * Arthur seems happy to have you around full-time now. He admits it’s been lonely for him in this confusing world and it’ll be nice to have a companion he can actually have a conversation with. He doesn’t tell you that he’s ecstatic to have you around now and he’s curious to see what people do in this situation. 
  * This situation is a new learning experience for both you and him. Of course, one of the first things you learn is exactly how selfish people can be. The first time you went to the grocery store after quarantine began, it was hard to shop because so many shelves were cleaned out. Toilet paper, gone. Noodles of all varieties, gone. Cereals, gone. Coffee, gone. Bread, gone (except the gluten-free stuff, you noticed). 
  * Luckily, Arthur, who goes with you to nearly every shopping visit, has a few suggestions on alternatives. He learned enough about substitutions out in the wild, having to collect his own food on more than one occasion. 
  * You're quite bummed when you got to the noodle section to find all the spaghetti noodles gone. You’d really been wanting to make some for him, knowing he’d been quite curious about it in the game when Jack was rescued. 
  * Mostly though, you’re just glad you have enough toilet papers to last a few more weeks, when hopefully things have calmed down. 
  * Three days after your first shopping trip of quarantine, you’re sitting on the couch, eating breakfast and watching Youtube on your laptop. It’s still dark out, but it always is this early in the middle of March. 
  * Arthur’s still in bed, he usually doesn’t wake up until the sun rises. A result of living so much of his life with the movements of the sun. From what you understand, most people during his life period lived that way and, despite being an outlaw, he is no exception. 
  * Sage is lying down at your feet, having just finished her own breakfast. Her head suddenly comes up and she tips her head as if listening to something. She lets out her alarm bark. 
  * “What is it, Sage? Some dude walking down the street again?” 
  * Suddenly there’s a loud rumbling. It sounds like a semi going down the highway not too far from your house. But after a few seconds, it gets louder and louder, almost deafening. Then the shaking starts. 
  * In the darkened room, you feel the floor beneath you shake as the air is filled with a roar like thunder that goes on for far too long. Something crashes to the floor in your bedroom and you watch your bookshelf full of DVDs sway ominously back and forth, threatening to dump its contents. The kitchen light goes off, along with the rest of the power. 
  * Your heart in your throat, you look around and involuntarily let out a low scream. Arthur’s bedroom door flies open and he comes out, despite the swaying, yelling your name. 
  * As quickly as the shaking began, it stops. Your left in the darkness, visibly shaking and terrified. You look at Arthur, your mouth in an “o” shape. 
  * “What… what the hell was that?” he says, swallowing. 
  * “I think it was an earthquake,” you say, noting how weak and frightened you sound. 
  * You take your phone out and turn on the flashlight. You’ve never experienced an earthquake before, despite the threat you’ve heard of your whole life of what locals call “the big one”, an earthquake that’s supposedly overdue by about 10,000 years and is supposed to be so large it will almost immediately affect the topography of the state. Although this was not big enough to be “the big one”, it was frightening. 
  * Just as you make your shaky way over to Arthur, feeling nervous, the shaking starts again. You scream again and dash beneath the nearest doorframe, Arthur following in your wake. 
  * If the situation wasn’t so new and frightening, you’d be incredibly embarrassed at the closeness between you and Arthur, but all you can focus on is how long will this last? 
  * This period is much shorter than the last. The beam from your phone shakes along the floor, a result of your hand. 
  * Arthur sighs and looks down at you. “You okay? I never… never experienced nothin’ like that.” 
  * “Me neither. I don’t… I… ah!” You let out a scream again as your phone lets out a deafening buzz. You look at the screen.
  * It reads: 5.7 Earthquake reported at 7:09 am 4 kilometers from your house. That’s only 2 miles away! You’re practically in the epicenter. 
  * You tell Arthur this, but he clearly doesn’t really understand how that information was received so quickly. Your brain isn’t functioning well enough to explain geology to him right now.
  * “I… I think we need to check the house. Will you help me?” you ask. 
  * Arthur agrees and you tell him to take a flashlight you have and just check for cracks along the walls and ceilings. Luckily, despite your house being old, it’s built strong and durable. That shows today as there’s only a tiny little crack above your fridge where there’d been some water damage years previously. 
  * Arthur tells you he found nothing, but then your heart drops. “Arthur, we have to go down in the basement. Make sure the furnace and water pipes are okay.” 
  * He nods resolutely. Of course, he’s the bravest man you know, so you hope you can lean on him for courage. 
  * Just as you’re both about to go down, another ripple of shaking goes through the house. Arthur looks around and, despite your thoughts, he looks nervous. 
  * “Y/N, maybe we oughta wait a bit. This don’t seem safe.” 
  * You nod, not wanting to do this, but also knowing that if there’s a ruptured pipe or your furnace is broke, you’re in big trouble. But at the same time, it’s safer to remain here until the aftershocks begin to settle down. 
  * 15 minutes go by of silence, although you hear a multitude of sirens and another alarm buzz goes off, warning residents in your neighborhoods to stay sheltered and off the roads for emergency vehicles. 
  * You feel confident enough to go into the basement and just make sure nothing’s ruined. Your basement isn’t that big, you tell Arthur, and it’ll only take a couple of minutes. 
  * He reluctantly agrees. A few minutes later, you both come up from the basement, feeling a bit better as there is no damage aside from a shallow crack along your foundation. 
  * A quick check outside proves your gas meter has held just fine, even though it’s moved away from your house after a couple of seconds. 
  * You check your phone again, looking once again for more updates. You’re not having much luck though as the internet and cell service is down. You wonder if the quake messed up the cell tower. 
  * After a while, you and Arthur settle down on the couches, waiting to hear anything. Another big aftershock sends you scurrying for the doorframe. As your house shakes and you hear that unpleasantly familiar boom like thunder, you feel on the verge of tears. 
  * When this round stops, Arthur suggests you all sit in a room where it’ll likely be safe, somewhere close to the door in case you need to make a quick escape. 
  * You decide on the kitchen, not knowing it’s reported to be the worst place in a house to shelter. It’s close to the backdoor and Sage is already in there, cowering and whimpering under the table. You go and sit on the cold tile floor next to the table where you can be close to her. Arthur sits by the stove. 
  * You don’t know how much time goes by, but it doesn’t take long for you to get cold. Without any power, the heater isn’t on, and it’s only mid-March. You’re lucky if it gets up to 65 degrees (F) outside. 
  * Arthur gets up, without a word. Figuring he just needs to pee, you don’t say anything. A minute later, though, he comes out with the big comforter from his bed. 
  * “Here,” he says. “Been watchin’ ya shiver for the last half hour.” 
  * He wraps the blanket around you. Sure, you have been shaking, but more from shock than the cold. He sits down a few inches away from you. If he’s shivering, you can’t see him, but he is fumbling with his hands a lot. 
  * Just as you’re beginning to relax and think the worst might be over, you hear that rumble again. You shoot up and scramble for the doorframe as the shaking begins once more. You feel your last nerve break, and so you put your hands over your ears, bend over a little bit and try to stifle the sob that’s threatening to erupt from your throat. 
  * Suddenly you feel something hot and firm pressing into you, enfolding you. What feels like a hand presses to the back of your head, holding your head against the structure. You feel the soft, scratchy fabric against your skin and clench your hand around it. A loud pounding beats in your ear, but it’s probably just your own heart. 
  * The shaking vanishes, leaving you frightened again with tears leaking from your cheeks. 
  * “I got ya, it’s okay,” Arthur’s soft, rough voice says. The structure you’re leaning against vibrates with his voice. It makes you open your eyes.
  * The first thing you see is Arthur’s dark gray union suit, which is what you’re clenching. It then hits you like a freight train that the thing you’re leaning against is him. 
  * “Oh, sorry, Arthur. I wasn’t aware I grabbed you,” you say, starting to lean back. 
  * “No, you didn’t, I grabbed ya. Can just tell you’re at the end of your tether. I am too, if I’m honest.” 
  * He gently pulls you back to him, clearly enjoying your warmth and the feeling of you against him as much as you’re enjoying his. He feels sturdy and strong, capable of supporting you while your legs feel like jelly. 
  * After a few minutes with no shaking, you both feel confident enough to go and sit back down in the kitchen with the trembling Sage. Arthur stays close to you now.
  * A few more small aftershocks rumble through and every time, Arthur is there to offer you his arms. At one point, there’s four aftershocks in the span of twenty minutes, resulting in you just sitting in between his legs, tucked into his chest. He grabbed the comforter a while back, folding it around the both of you to keep warm. 
  * A few hours have gone by and the power flicks back on. It’s been surprisingly quiet, with only a couple of tiny aftershocks. You’ve been keeping an eye on the US Geo Survey, and the biggest quake in the last 3 hours was a 2.7. 
  * By this time, you and Arthur feel safe enough to retreat to the living room and onto the couches. He stays on the same couch as you, staying close. Maybe he feels just as comforted by your presence as you do by his. 
  * By the time you’d normally be getting dinner started, you’re both exhausted from the constant dashing to doorframes and the never-ending worry. Neither of you are really hungry enough for a regular meal, so you and Arthur just fix up some sandwiches and cut up some fruit. 
  * Nightfall and you decide to go and try to sleep, even though you’re sure you won’t really get much. Just as Arthur opens up his door to his room, you stop him, feeling afraid of what might happen tonight. There’s still been plenty of aftershocks. 
  * “Arthur, will… will you stay with me tonight?” 
  * He sighs, as though relieved. 
  * “Of course.” 
  * You lay down on one side of your bed and he takes the other. Another large but very brief aftershock goes through your house, making you sit up. Arthur puts his hand on your shoulder and you take the invite to lay against him for comfort. 
  * You hear the steady thumping of his heart, which helps lull you to sleep. 
  * The last thing you think before drifting off is that, whatever happens after tonight, nothing between you and Arthur will ever be the same again. 



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most people don't know how nutritious feedback is for an author. The best kind, in fact. Help me not starve?


	7. A Slow Burn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think the title speaks for itself. We'll see how long I can manage to keep it up (which I predict won't be very long at all).

  * It’s been a week since the big earthquake. You read that there’s been over 200 documented aftershocks. Most have been under the 2.5 range, meaning they’re barely noticeable without equipment. However, there were some above 4.1, meaning they were enough to frighten you and Arthur. 
  * As you predicted after spending the first night with him, nothing between you and him has been the same. In a good way though. 
  * Arthur was an ideal gentleman that night. Of course, you expected nothing less from him. He was the last man you needed to worry about. 
  * The morning after the quake, you woke up to an empty bed. He walked in about five minutes later with a cup of coffee for you to drink in bed. 
  * There was a tense, awkward silence. You weren’t quite sure what to say to him. “That was great, I hope we do that again”? No. “Thanks for letting me sleep all packed against you”? Worse. 
  * He broke the silence by explaining there’d only been a few small aftershocks. 
  * “Guess… guess we need to talk. About last night,” he’d said. 
  * “Guess we do. I… I understand if you prefer to sleep in the other bed.” 
  * He smiled and looked away. “Well, I was thinkin’... it was nice… to uh, not be alone for once. I didn’t expect to sleep last night with all the rumblin’, but… I slept surprisingly well.” 
  * You couldn’t but smile back at him. “Me too. Thank you, Arthur. I don’t think I would’ve coped if you weren’t here.” 
  * He surprised you yet again by gently grabbing your hand and squeezing it. 
  * Since then, the two of you have been more touchy with one another. Not in any sexual or romantic ways of course, but just the small bump here and there, and the occasional hand holding. He’s also taken to sitting on the same couch as you, as though he likes the physical closeness. 
  * You’ve always had a suspicion, even when you only knew him from the gang, that Arthur was secretly touch starved. His behavior now only solidifies that. 
  * You aren’t overly touchy, but you find yourself making an exception for Arthur. 
  * More and more, you want to ask him to be your boyfriend. You can’t tell if he likes you in that way though. However, it’s not just the complexity of his situation that prevents you from asking him. It’s only a matter of time before he figures out you’re not worth his energy. 
  * The thought breaks your heart, but you decide to enjoy his company while you still have it. 
  * Lately you’ve been testing how he reacts to you, to see if maybe there is something between the two of you. 
  * One night, you’d walked up behind him while he was sat on the couch and brushes the back of his shoulder, claiming his shirt was laying in an odd position. This was a downright lie of course, but you noticed the back of his neck burned red after your touch. 
  * Ever since that night after the earthquake too, he’s been more flustered around you. Not that you’ve been any different. It’s almost impossible to look him in the face without blushing. 
  * There’s still lots of aftershocks from the quake. 
  * After the first night, you thought Arthur would spend the nights with you in your bed. However, he chose to sleep in his own bed but said you were welcome to bother him should anything happen. 
  * This bummed you out. Perhaps he didn’t like you in that way. Maybe he blushed whenever anybody touched him. It’s not like he was used to it, afterall. 
  * Your feelings towards him have become confused and indecipherable even at times. You still love him as the sarcastic, tough, secretly sensitive outlaw protagonist from the video game you love, and you still have a raging crush on him as a person. However, why waste your time and energy on loving him that way if the feelings aren’t returned? 
  * You’re rather draggy today, a combination of poor sleep and the fact that you cried yourself to sleep. It wasn’t just the constant stress of the aftershocks. Your depression and doubt had gotten the better of you last night. 
  * All you could think of was how no one seemed to want to stick around you, that you were just a giant waste of everyone’s time. That Arthur would be far better off if he’d been discovered by someone else. 
  * You didn’t even consider the fact that without you, Arthur would probably be in a horrible place. Either back in the game and dying/dead or in a mental hospital being treated for an illness he didn’t have. 
  * The only thing your brain could focus on was that, just like everyone else in your life, Arthur would leave too. After all, your dad’s dead, taken from you by force. Your mother is too occupied on herself to give you the time of day. Your only sister, whom you’ve never been close with, lives in a different state. You don’t have any friends. You’re just one of those people that exists to take up space. It was not a good place to be. 
  * Arthur knew from early in the day that you aren’t yourself, that you’re far more quiet than usual. You lack your usual excitement towards Sage as you prepare to feed her is gone.
  * “You okay?” Arthur says, sipping his coffee. 
  * “What?” you say, completely lost in your head. 
  * “I said ‘you okay?’”
  * “O-oh. Yeah, I’m fine.” 
  * You decided this morning that you need to shelve your attractions to Arthur. He doesn’t like you in that way, in fact he’d be a fool to. But for your own mental health, you need to take a step back. 
  * Part of you wishes you’d never asked him to spend that night in your bed. It’s made things so much more complicated. If only you’d been strong enough to handle the night alone. 
  * “You don’t seem fine,” Arthur says, pulling you back out of your head. Damn it doesn’t help he’s wearing nothing but his union suit and his jeans, so you can see the definition of his body fairly well. “Ya seem… I don’t know, sad for some reason. Just kinda down.” 
  * Tears begin to well at the bottom of your eyes. Of course. You’ve been trying so hard to keep yourself together, but the moment someone asks if you’re fine, you have to break down. You turn away and wipe your eyes so Arthur won’t see. 
  * “I’m fine, Arthur. Like I said. Do yourself a favor and… don’t worry about me.” 
  * You turn back to Sage’s food. Poor dog, she’s been patiently waiting for a while now. 
  * Suddenly there’s a hand on your shoulder. 
  * “But I do worry about ya, Y/N. Y’know, you done so much for me. I know I been a… a burden.” 
  * “You ain’t been-” you start. 
  * “No, I have been. Please, let me… let me finish. I know you’ve had a lot of stress. From what I can gather about your time is that it’s hard. In different ways then my time was hard. This world moves so fast, I can hardly keep up with it and I barely have a part in it. I know it ain’t easy on anyone, even you. Then I come along, make things harder. Know my meds have been expensive. Then these earthquakes. Please, let me help you for once.” 
  * “You’ve helped me, Arthur,” you say, feeling incredibly embarrassed. “I mean, you got all that money for me when this COVID crap hit.” 
  * “Sure, but… Please, Y/N. Lemme help ya.” 
  * That’s all it takes and you’re breaking down in front of him. God, he must find you pathetic. It’s no secret he’s got a short fuse and doesn’t often have the patience to deal with emotional people. With his background, he has to be tough and it must be easy for him to find you weak. 
  * “Please, Arthur,” you beg. “Please don’t worry about me. It’s fine, I can deal with this on my own. Besides, you have your own stuff to worry about.” You wipe your tears, unable to muster the courage to look at him. 
  * A finger goes under your chin and lifts your head up gently so you have to look at him. Instead of the anger or annoyance you expected, you see pity and worry. 
  * “Ain’t got a whole lot other than you to worry about, sweetheart. I just wanna help ya.” 
  * “I… I can’t,” you whisper. How can you tell this man that you’re growing to love him more than any other person. He can’t know, and you wouldn’t even know how to begin to tell him. 
  * “Why not?” he asks. 
  * You swallow and look away. “Because you wouldn’t understand, Arthur. You and I… we’re nothing alike. We’re cut from different molds. I wouldn’t begin to wrap my head around the burdens on your shoulders, so I don’t expect you to understand mine.” 
  * “Try me,” he says with a small smile. 
  * He leads you over to the couch and sits you down on it. His eyes are soft and gentle, but he doesn’t press you to talk immediately. After he hands you a tissue, you decide it’s safe to at least tell him some of the things you’re feeling. 
  * “Arthur I… I know you know how it feels to just not live anymore. What it’s like to long for death. Well, I… I guess I been feeling that a lot lately. I just… I don’t matter to anyone.” 
  * You sniff and wipe your eyes again. He opens his mouth to speak but you cut him off. “And please don’t give me that trope of ‘there’s people who care, blah blah blah’ because I don’t see them.” 
  * You tell him about your past experiences with people and why you prefer being alone and how you expect you’ll die alone. 
  * “People just don’t like me, Arthur. Everyone figures it out in the end that I’m just not worth being around. There’s not a single person in this world whose life I’ve affected.” 
  * “Then I guess it don’t matter that I owe you my life.” 
  * You look up at him, your eyes wide. He scoots a little closer. 
  * “Y/N, who cares if ya don’t make a difference in this world? Most people don’t. Most people are barely remembered five minutes after their deaths except for those they were close to. Trust me, you’ve no idea the effect your death would have and there’s no way for you to know, just like the rest of us. And please don’t say you don’t matter to no one, because… you matter to me.” 
  * He takes your hand and squeezes it softly. Instead of feeling the affectionate flutter of your heart you expected to feel, you feel a soft tenderness and surge of friendship towards Arthur. It’s this moment you realize that he’s the one person you can trust to tell anything to. Already you feel better. 
  * “Thank you, Arthur,” you say, squeezing his hand back. “You’re a good man.” 
  * “Nah, I ain't. You don’t know the things I done.” 
  * “I know some of them. Bu you’re a good man to me.” 




	8. Silver Linings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> K y'all, I know I been super absent on this piece, so I made it extra fluffy. Even I nearly swooned while writing it, so enjoy! I promise I'm gonna try to be more active on this one. Honestly I meant to use stuff I did this summer as inspiration (like going to zoos and aquariums and shit), but then covid happened and I been stuck in my house all summer. Anyways, excuses over, enjoy.

  * Things have been different between you and Arthur. Since you told him some of your insecurities and he comforted you, things have been better. 
  * You’ve never been able to easily open up to people but with Arthur, it’s different. Perhaps it’s because he’s the first person who’s told you to your face that he cares. 
  * Arthur has been warmer towards you. Not that he wasn’t before. But he’s even moreso. 
  * One day you come home from the store. You’d offered him to come, but he said he wanted to stay home, take a shower maybe. 
  * You haul in the few sacks of groceries, remembering the one that has the refill on Arthur’s meds. 
  * You’ve been doing some research on TB lately, as a way to try and help Arthur in his recovery. It’s not pretty to know that even today, well over a million people die a year from the disease, and those who recover are permanently damaged, their lungs scarred. Not only that, they suffer bouts of symptoms even though they no longer have the disease. Along with those is the fact that their immune system is greatly damaged and they’re more prone to other infections. 
  * The moment you walk in, you hear whistling. Is that Arthur? It makes you smile. 
  * When you get into the kitchen, he walks over and takes the groceries from you. “Let me help ya, darlin’.” 
  * You blush at his nickname for you. How can he be so terrifying in the ways you’ve seen and even made him be in the game, and yet so sweet? He’s a complicated man, and unpredictable in the best ways. 
  * He continues to whistle as he helps you put things away, and then he grabs the boxes of meds. You hear him give a heavy sigh. 
  * It’s no secret that these medications have kicked his ass nearly as well as the disease itself. 
  * “You okay?” you ask.
  * “Yeah. Just… don’t like these things. But I guess they’re better than the alternative.” 
  * “I know. But hey, you’re halfway through. Only three more months.” 
  * Arthur turns to look at you and leans his back on the counter. “These medicines have side effects, right?” 
  * “Course. Pretty much every medication does. Why? You having some?”
  * He rubs the back of his neck, not looking at you. “Yeah. A few. Kind of… embarrassin’ though.” 
  * “Arthur, it’s fine. My mother’s a nurse. She’s been a nurse longer than I been alive. Trust me, after hearing the things she saw, none of it really phases me.” 
  * Arthur grunts and then tells you in vague details some of the things he’s dealing with. Tingling in his hands and feet, occasional joint pain, and then he mentions in an embarrassed way about how his body fluids have been colored more orange. 
  * “Those are common, Arthur. Unfortunately nothing we can really do for most of them. You haven’t been drinking alcohol, have you?” 
  * He grunts that he’s had a couple beers a week. 
  * “Well, no more. That’s one reason why your body fluids have been discolored. It’s your liver doing it. And for your joint pain? That can be fixed with tylenol.” 
  * After a few seconds, you add “You’ve been coughing less.” 
  * “Yeah,” he says softly. “Been havin’ less pain in my lungs too.” 
  * You can tell he’s a little put out by the discussion of his medical problems. 
  * “Arthur, let’s do something fun this week. Even though covid is still strong, some places are starting to open up. We just have to reserve a spot ahead of time.” 
  * “How do you do that?” he asks. 
  * “Easy. Just by tickets on the internet.” 
  * He grunts again and looks out the window. The internet, well, most electronic technology baffles him. You once caught him trying to literally pop your phone open to see what was inside. He’s been more gentle since you explained phones don’t open up unless you destroy them. 
  * “Maybe. But… ain’t there places we can go we don’t have to reserve a place?” 
  * “Sure,” you say. “There’s plenty of lakes and trails we can go on.” 
  * He immediately perks up when you say that. 
  * “Can we go to one of them places today?” 
  * “Sure,” you say. “I know a nice little place.” 
  * An hour later, you’re driving up one of the many canyons towards a place called Silver Lake near Brighton Ski Resort. 
  * Arthur’s a bit baffled by your explanation of skiing. Even though you’ve lived in Utah your whole life (which reportedly has the greatest snow on earth) you’ve never been skiing or snowboarding. But you do your best to explain them. 
  * Arthur’s mood greatly improves the further in the canyon you get. He loves how wild it is, even this close to the city. And the quiet. He loves it all. 
  * You laugh when he gets particularly excited about seeing a moose cow standing in the marshes of a beaver’s pond, a heron sauntering nearby. 
  * Because you know how unusual it is to see a moose, you pull over and roll down the windows so he can see. 
  * The smell coming from the forest is intoxicating. 
  * The drive to the lake is nearly an hour, and by the time you finally get there, Arthur’s smiling. It’s rather contagious. 
  * However you have to catch yourself when you see how happy he is. It just makes him all that much more handsome. You’ve been trying to be so careful not to fall for him. 
  * The air is nice and cool up here, a relieving reprieve from the triple degree heat down in the city. 
  * Arthur’s donned his leather hat and blue shirt for this walk. It looks great out here and even though there’s some people, no one will think anything of his outfit.
  * The hike around the lake is very easy and is a good hour walk if you take your time. Perfect for Arthur as it won’t irritate his lungs. 
  * The path lies right against the shores of the lake, which is not any larger than lake Owanjilla in the game, and also quite shallow. 
  * As you walk along the boardwalk on the marshy end of the lake, Arthur stops and looks over the railing. There, you can both easily see minnows hiding in the reeds. 
  * Once you hit the trees, Arthur looks around. There’s no one around. 
  * He shocks you by taking your hand in his and just holding it as you both walk. You can’t help but smile up at him. 
  * At the halfway point of the lake, there is a bench on the trail. It has a great lookout on the lake and you can even see Mickey Mouse mountain, a curious mountain with a permanent bald spot that forms the shape of the famous mouse’s head. 
  * You and Arthur sit on the bench and say nothing. There is nothing that needs to be said here at this moment. It’s so quiet and calm, to say anything would spoil it. 
  * Arthur unleashes your hand, to which you feel sad about. You’d really been enjoying it. 
  * Then he surprises you. He feins scratching the back of his neck and then his arm drapes along the back of the bench behind you. 
  * It’s getting harder and harder to control yourself around him, and you find that you’re really not wanting to anymore. 
  * With the encouragement of the solitude and Arthur’s arm draped behind you, it’s not long before you’re leaning into his side and resting your head on his shoulder. 
  * Only seconds after you get into this position, you feel Arthur’s arm winding around you. 
  * Is this real? Are you cuddling with Arthur Morgan? _The_ Arthur Morgan? 
  * It feels real, and it feels right. 
  * Just as you’re beginning to truly appreciate the beauty of the lake and the forest, Arthur speaks up. 
  * “I was afraid places like this wouldn’t be around anymore.” 
  * “How do you mean?” 
  * “Well, in that city. It’s so big and loud and… unnatural. Mostly big though. I was beginning to think man had truly driven any kind of wildness out.” 
  * “Well, we mostly have. But we also know the value of places like this. If we destroy them, we destroy ourselves.” 
  * Arthur sighs and falls silent for a moment. When he speaks up again, he takes you off guard. 
  * “Thank you, darlin’. For bringin’ me here. This is the best kind of medication.” 
  * You look up at him and are about to say “you’re welcome” when you’re stopped by his smile, the light in his eyes. That’s one thing the game failed to do despite being so detailed and lifelike. It failed to capture how truly beautiful and alive his eyes are. 
  * Just as you’re about to speak, Arthur closes the few inches between your faces and places his lips on yours. 
  * To say your heart stops is an understatement. How long have you thought of doing this with him? Much longer than you’ve known him, that’s for sure. 
  * His lips are better than you could have ever imagined. They’re not chapped (though that might be because you introduced him to chapstick), but warm and alive. Your hand leaves his knee and slides up his chest and to his neck. 
  * His free hand does the same, gently settling on your back to bring you closer. 
  * After a few seconds, Arthur pulls away. “Sorry, darlin’. That was… unwarranted.” 
  * You blush and smile. “Arthur, did it feel like I didn’t want it?” 
  * He smiles back. “Then… would you mind for a second?” 
  * You answer him by bringing your lips right back to his. This one is more fervent, more sure. 
  * It’s during this kiss you really begin to appreciate him, his body. How he feels, how he smells. 
  * Though a lot of his wild scent has been tamed by your home, he still holds onto some of it. That hint of leather, gun powder, tobacco. It’s like it’s been ingrained into his very skin. 
  * You don’t know it, but Arthur is appreciating the way you smell and feel too. 
  * He’s longed to feel you pressed against him like this since not long after he first met you. Oh, how he wished to do something like this with you during that earthquake. 
  * When he’d held you in his arms that night, oh it had felt so right, so pure. So good that he knew he didn’t deserve it. 
  * But this. Kissing you, holding you, bathed in the shade and the perfume of the pines. It’s beyond perfect. 
  * He doesn’t care that he thinks he’s too bad of a man for someone as good and kind as you. He just wants to revel in this moment. 
  * You’re both still deep in the kiss when you hear voices approaching from down the trail, and some of them belong to children. 
  * The two of you quickly break apart, but not before the man in the family sees you both smooching. 
  * He gives you both a hearty wink while the mother looks rather disapproving as they pass. 
  * You can’t help but smile as you blush, still nestled in Arthur’s arm. 
  * He rubs your back soothingly while the family passes. 
  * After a short while, the two of you decide it’s time to head back to the car and go home. 
  * Arthur holds your hand every second, and even sometimes brings your hand to his lips. 
  * Towards the end of the walk, the boardwalk allows people to walk out to nearly the center of the lake to either fish or look down into the water. 
  * You and Arthur head down it, finding yourselves alone on the planks though people can be seen on the trail still. 
  * Once there, Arthur takes you in his arms and kisses you again. This surprises you as you always took him to be a very private man who was not a fan of pdo. 
  * However, he doesn’t seem to care in this moment. Neither do you, so you loop your arms around his neck and press yourself into the kiss. 
  * Arthur chuckles when the kiss ends. “Sorry, had to do that. The sun hit your hair, made it so pretty. Just… had to kiss ya.” 
  * You smile and kiss the tip of his nose. “You can kiss me any time you want, Mr. Morgan.” 



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think of this. Don't think that your comment will go unread, because there isn't a single comment I've received that I have not seen.


	9. This is Halloween - part 1 of ?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am going to do a Halloween series throughout October! I don't know how many there will be, but I have a few ideas and expect I will have a lot of fun. I hope you all do as well.

  * October is fast approaching and you’re getting excited for it
  * Arthur can tell something is building up but he’s not really sure what it is
  * When you tell him that this year is the first year you’ll have time to celebrate Halloween properly in the past several years, he’s confused but he loves seeing you so excited
  * Arthur has been kissing you just about every opportunity he can. He’s far sweeter than you thought he’d be
  * He keeps it on the down low though, generally not doing it when you’re in public
  * You love how sweet, thoughtful and supportive he is
  * You know that in 1899, Halloween wasn’t as big as it is now. Hell, most the traditions that aren’t Pagan were not a thing until the 1920’s. 
  * You decide that for yourself and for Arthur, you’re gonna go all out. 
  * The first thing you do is towards the end of September when you take him to drive down to a canyon called the Alpine Loop in Utah County. 
  * You go on a weekday because, thanks to Covid, outdoor activities are ten times as popular as ever. Even today, the canyon has a fairly heavy flow of traffic. It’s not bad though
  * This byway is one of Utah’s most popular drives during the fall thanks to the thick forests and stream that runs alongside the road. Not only that, but the colors are some of the most vivid here at this time of year. 
  * Driving down the winding road of the canyon, you roll down the windows so you can both smell the earth. 
  * Arthur’s been holding your hand the entire time you’ve been driving. He’s taken to doing this since you kissed at Brighton. 
  * At one point, Arthur asks if you can get out and walk around a bit, enjoy the colors properly. 
  * Finding a parking spot is a bit difficult, but finally you manage to find one that isn’t too far from a picnicking area. 
  * In order to get to the picnicking area, you have to go along a bridge that crosses the river. 
  * Here, Arthur stops, wanting to appreciate the water and the branches that hang down towards it. 
  * You know living in the city has taken its toll on him. He’s never cared for civilization, always been a man of the wild. 
  * You don’t blame him, you prefer places like this yourself. 
  * He’s been sounding better and better as the weeks have passed though, thanks to the medicine he’s taking. However, you’re worried about when winter comes. 
  * In winter, the Salt Lake valley where you live is year after year reported to have the worst air in the country. It’s thanks to the mountains that line both sides of the valley that trap the pollutants in the air, creating what is called inversion. 
  * It’s this reason that you, along with everyone else who’s lived in Utah for long periods of time, have higher lung problems than anywhere else in the country. 
  * It worries you how this may affect him since he will have permanent scar tissue from his TB. 
  * Arthur looks up at you and breaks your train of thought. “What you thinkin’ about?” 
  * “Nothing,” you say and squeeze his hand. “Come on, let’s keep walking. See the colors.” 
  * After enjoying the beauty of the canyon, you decide it’s time to decorate your house for the season. 
  * Your fall decor is already up. Arthur had enjoyed helping you put that stuff up (although he found your plaque stating your love for pumpkin spice a little strange. You’ll have to introduce it to him.) 
  * Arthur helps you bring up one of the two boxes of Halloween things. As soon as you set it down, you turn on some Halloween music. 
  * He finds it to be a little strange. Sure, he’s getting used to the different kinds of music, but he’s never heard Halloween. 
  * He starts pulling out some of your decorations, thoroughly confused. That’s when you realize you need to explain how Halloween is celebrated today. So you do. 
  * After you explain that Halloween is about finding the fun in being scared and celebrating the season of the leaves withering and dying, the world growing cold, and the darkness setting in, he seems to understand a bit more. 
  * However, when he pulls out your Jack and Sally figurines, he’s very confused. 
  * “What the hell is this supposed to be?” he says, referring to Jack. 
  * “That’s Jack Skellington the Pumpkin King.” 
  * “Pumpkin King? He ain’t even a pumpkin!” 
  * You giggle, “That’s ‘cause he’s a skeleton.” 
  * Arthur turns the figurine around a few times. “I ain’t ever seen nothin’ look less like a skeleton, neither.” 
  * “It’s okay, Arthur, I’ll show you the movie they’re from.” 
  * Arthur enjoys your little collection that surrounds a haunted house with black cats. He finds a little collection of owls dressed up as a witch, a vampire and a werewolf. 
  * “What’s up with these?” he says. 
  * You explain how kids dress up in costumes in order to go and trick or treat. 
  * You realize now you’re a little in over your head with explaining Halloween to him. So when the decorating is done, you pull up Youtube on your TV and find a video about the history of Halloween. 
  * Luckily for you, the video starts off back during the American Revolution, before the Salem Witch Trials and works its way up to the 1920’s, when a woman, tired of her town’s youth causing mayhem every Halloween, came up with many of today’s traditions to deter the youth.
  * After watching this, Arthur seems to have a better understanding of the holiday (and you’ve learned a thing or two as well) 
  * He seems a little more enthusiastic now that he’s got a better grip of things, though he’s still confused about some of your Halloween figures inspired by movies. 
  * You decide to introduce him to the plethora of Halloween movies at your fingertips (since Covid has still kept a lot of things shut down. However you do recall seeing an ad for a haunted corn maze up north that might be fun).
  * The first movie you sit down and watch with him is Nightmare before Christmas. 
  * He finds the style of the movie very strange, asking why the art is so different from what he’s seen before. 
  * You explain the art of claymation in filming and how the art of the film actually drives the message of it along, since the characters and sets are strange. 
  * Arthur insists on sitting next to you the whole movie. At one point, he even gently presses you to him so you can lay your head on his shoulder. Your heart pounds nearly as hard as his. 
  * Arthur is particularly drawn to Sally because, although she has a raging crush on Jack from the beginning, she doesn’t allow it to stop her from trying to make things better when she sees clear signs of where the plot will go. 
  * After the movie ends, Arthur remains on the couch and just holds you a bit more. 
  * He liked the music much more than you thought he would. 
  * As you rest with your ear to his chest, you think you hear him hum a few lines from Jack’s Lament. It brings a smile to your face. 



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think! Don't ever think "oh she won't read or care about my comment" cuz trust me, I do. Also, if you have some ideas for Halloween you might want incorporated, tell me! Halloween is my favorite and this is the first time I've been able to celebrate in nearly a decade!


	10. The Maze - Part 2 of Halloween

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to write a longer thing for this, but alas. I am juggling a couple of other projects on top of this one, so here's what I managed to get. I will try to write more before Halloween is over.

  * It’s nearly the middle of October and Halloween is in full swing. 
  * Arthur likes seeing the decorations from your neighbors’ yards and along the neighborhood. 
  * You’ve had him watch a different Halloween movie every night, though you keep the truly scary ones for the daytime. 
  * Arthur finds this funny, teasing you about not being able to watch scary movies in the day when Halloween is all about being scared. 
  * That is until you show him the first Paranormal Activity and he about jumps out of his skin. 
  * He’s convinced that movie’s real and it took a lot of convincing from you that it’s not and was filmed using clever techniques.
  * He wasn’t a big fan of Beetlejuice initially until a day or two later and you heard him humming the Banana Boat song. 
  * The two of you still haven’t done anything quite yet to celebrate Halloween. 
  * However you know of a local vegetable stand up north that has the best pumpkins for a great price. 
  * It conveniently sits not too far from a good picking of corn mazes. 
  * So you take a day off work and drive up north to the vegetable stand. 
  * Arthur loves the pumpkins. He wants to buy several, though he has no idea what you’ve got planned. 
  * When you explain carving jack o’lanterns, he’s even more excited. 
  * On the stand, he convinces you to buy some corn, apples and then he finds on the cashier stand some home made jam. 
  * You can’t resist his obvious enthusiasm, so you buy some. 
  * Then you head over to the corn maze as it’s getting late in the day. 
  * Outside the maze stands a man on stilts in a scarecrow costume. Arthur is highly confused and you realize he hasn’t seen a real person in a costume before. 
  * However, he happens to be wearing his classic outfit with blue shirt and tan coat. 
  * A group of young men pass by. “Hey! Nice Arthur Morgan outfit! Bad ass!” 
  * You giggle at the look on his face. You still haven’t shown him the game, though you’ve explained it. 
  * Having strangers address him as though they know him still throws him off, but how could it not? 
  * Suddenly you’re worried though: Arthur is a fighter. If there’s an actor in that maze who scares him and gets too close, they will get punched in the face. 
  * You pull him aside and explain this to him, and that there is no real danger. 
  * “What the hell is the point of this?” he demands. 
  * “Arthur, it’s for fun. Please? I promise you’ll have fun, and I haven’t done one of these in over ten years!” 
  * He sighs but relents. After all, he can’t resist your excitement. 
  * Arthur does surprisingly well in the maze. There’s not a lot of actors who attempt to scare people, just a couple. 
  * Arthur has surprising ease in finding his way through the maze. He blames it on a good sense of direction he’s had to have since where he comes from he didn’t have fancy gadgets to tell him where he is. 
  * At one point in the maze, Arthur pulls you to an area he knows is a dead end. When you ask what he’s doing, he pulls you into a long kiss. 
  * If only the game had a way of translating how passionate he is. The feeling he puts behind all his kisses is indescribable. 
  * His hands, so large and warm, place themselves perfectly on your back and hips. 
  * You shiver slightly, thanks to a combination of the kiss and the cool air. 
  * He pulls you close to his body to warm you up and it works. He runs hot. 
  * At the end of the maze, you pull out your phone, wanting to capture the memory. 
  * Arthur is still getting used to the idea of a camera fitting in your pocket, but he smiles all the same, his arm wrapped around you. 
  * It turns out to be such a good picture, you end up printing and framing it, putting it on one of your end tables in the living room. 
  * Arthur only says he likes it because he can see your beautiful smile. 



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please send in your feedback! You've no idea how motivating it is!


	11. Cowboys and Dinosaurs - Halloween part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last segment of my Halloween series. I will definitely write more pieces for Thanksgiving and Christmas as well though, don't worry!

  * It’s nearly the end of October, and Halloween is only days away. 
  * You’ve started to run out of movies to watch to celebrate the season, mostly because you’re not a fan of slasher movies. 
  * You showed one of them to Arthur just so he could understand the term slashers. He’s not a fan either, mostly because he’s seen too many people die to want to watch a movie that focuses on that. 
  * Not only that, he hates how unrealistic the blood and gore is. 
  * You start making plans for Halloween day though. 
  * Your plan is to watch your favorite most terrifying movie. The Haunting, released in 1963. Legitimately the most frightening film you’ve ever watched, and one of your favorites. 
  * You also pull up a recipe for pumpkin cheesecake that luckily doesn’t look too difficult.
  * Arthur has grown to be quite a fan of Halloween. He likes the atmosphere it creates in you and the other people he’s seen. 
  * He’s excited to see the kids and their costumes, it’s obvious he’s intrigued. 
  * You feel bad for having to let him down a little that your neighborhood doesn’t have a lot of kids. Not only that, thanks to Covid there’s likely to be even less than usual. 
  * Arthur just shrugs and says he doesn’t mind too much. Then he gets an idea. 
  * “Say, dressin’ up ain’t just a kid thing, is it?” 
  * You answer that it’s not, and plenty of adults do it too. 
  * Arthur loves the idea and asks if you have some costumes. 
  * You blush, and state that while you do, they’re not really Halloween outfits, but cosplays. 
  * After you explain the concept of a cosplay to him, he begs you to show them to him. 
  * At first you say no, feeling highly embarrassed. 
  * “Oh come on, darlin! For me? Please?” 
  * “Oh fine,” you relent. Your reward is a gentle kiss. 
  * For the next few hours, you slip in and out of your different cosplays. 
  * Arthur is an excellent audience, asking thorough questions about each one and their characters. 
  * He really likes your Harry Potter robe. 
  * He then notices a cowboy hat, tucked in your closet. 
  * “Wha’s that for?” he points to it. 
  * “Oh, that’s for my Alan Grant cosplay, from Jurassic Park.” 
  * “Alan Grant? He a cowboy?” 
  * “No, he’s a paleontologist.” You smile at the memory of Arthur bumping into the dinosaur lady in the game. 
  * That’s when you get an idea. You recall that one of your costumes is an inflatable T-Rex from the Jurassic Park movies. 
  * You’ve neglected to show him those movies, despite it being one of your favorites.
  * Before you pull out the costume though, you decide to pop Arthur’s Jurassic Park cherry so he can have a better understanding of context. 
  * The science briefly explained in the movie goes right over his head, but he’s in tight agreement behind the statement of the movie. 
  * The raptors scare the shit out of him. 
  * He really likes the character of Grant, and you tease it’s because Grant is a grumpy man who wears a cowboy hat, just like him. 
  * Arthur’s convinced the dinosaurs are real, and you have to show him Youtube videos of the animatronic dinosaurs being built and operated to change his mind. He still finds it hard to believe they’re fake. 
  * His favorite dinosaurs end up being the brachiosaurs. 
  * After the movie, you show him your T-Rex costume. 
  * He laughs for a long time when he sees it, and finds it absolutely adorable how excited you get about it. 
  * That’s when he realizes you could do a couples cosplay. His outfit looks close enough to Grant’s, with a few minor adjustments. And you already have the T-Rex outfit. 
  * You also remember seeing an announcement on your neighborhood’s Facebook page stating that in the park down the street from your house (the one you first met Arthur in), the rec center on the edge is hosting a Halloween movie night outside in the park. Costumes are encouraged. 
  * Arthur jumps on the idea of the two of you going, even though the movies are ones you’ve already watched with him (Nightmare before Christmas and Hocus Pocus).
  * Halloween morning comes, bright and chilly. 
  * Arthur helps you make the cheesecake. 
  * You almost have to kick him out of the kitchen because he won’t stop sampling the pumpkin filling. 
  * While the cheesecake bakes, you sit down with him to watch The Haunting. 
  * He laughs when you sit as close to him as you can and grip his hand. 
  * “You scared, sweetheart?” he teases. 
  * “Oh just you wait, Arthur,” you say. 
  * The movie terrifies him. 
  * By the end of it, you’re clutching yourself to his chest and he’s holding you tight. 
  * When it’s over, he swallows hard. 
  * “How… that is one hell of a movie,” he says. 
  * You agree and explain that by using nothing more than sounds, strange camera angles and lighting effects, the movie ends up being very effective in frightening people. 
  * Arthur’s so excited for night fall it’s almost euphoric. 
  * You can’t help but get excited for it too, and it makes you feel like a kid again. 
  * By the time the sun finally begins to set, you and him get ready. Not that it takes long. 
  * Arthur replaces his black bandana with a red one and takes the cheap raptor claw you bought from Amazon right after your couples costume was agreed upon. 
  * Arthur helps you get zipped up and your outfit comfortably situated. 
  * As the two of you walk down the street towards the park, Arthur holds your hand the whole time. His other holds Sage’s leash. 
  * Unfortunately you didn’t have time to get a themed outfit for your dog. 
  * In the park, there’s plenty of other people, spread out to allow for social distancing. 
  * Luckily Halloween is not hard to adjust for Covid times, and most people have masks to go along with their own costumes. 
  * Yours and Arthur’s turn out to be a huge hit. 
  * Several people ask to take pictures. 
  * It’s clear Arthur feels relieved that people take him as Alan Grant and not himself. Strangers recognizing him because of the game has always unsettled him. 
  * By the end of Nightmare before Christmas, you’re needing a break and unzip your suit. 
  * You neglected to bring a jacket and it’s getting cold. 
  * When you state you might run home and grab one, Arthur states that you don’t need to. 
  * He settles down on the grass and folds you in his arms, planting you against his chest. 
  * Luckily he runs hot, and with Sage planting herself by your sides, you end up being fairly warm. 
  * Arthur doesn’t stop holding you while you watch the last movie Hocus Pocus. 
  * It’s apparent though that Arthur is enjoying holding you more than you expected him to, but you don’t mind. Your body perfectly molds to his, and he’s too warm for you to want to pull away. 
  * By the time the movie finally finishes, it’s nearly ten at night and you’re growing tired. 
  * Arthur helps you stand up and the two of you walk home, your inflatable suit hanging from his free arm while he holds your hand.
  * As soon as you’re inside, Arthur demands you both dig into the cheesecake you baked earlier. 
  * He hums loudly as he takes the first bite, tilts his head back and closes his eyes. 
  * You can’t help but laugh. But the cheesecake is delicious. 
  * When you’ve both finished your piece, Arthur grabs your hips and pulls you close. 
  * He kisses you gently, cupping your cheek with one hand. 
  * You can taste the pumpkin on his lips and you wind your hands into his hair. 
  * When he pulls away, he’s smiling. 
  * “Happy Halloween, cowboy.”



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is a writer's bread and butter! Don't let me starve!


	12. Thanksgiving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks! It figures that this series only needs a chapter on Thanksgiving, so enjoy!

  * November has swept past and Thanksgiving is now only days away. 
  * Right after Halloween, Arthur mentioned it. Of course, you knew that Thanksgiving has been celebrated in the US since the Civil War. 
  * Curious about what it used to be like, you asked him how the gang celebrated the holiday. 
  * Arthur just smiled and explained that the last Thanksgiving he had with the gang, he and John had gone out hunting for turkeys, managing to catch four of them. 
  * Pearson had done his best to make an exemplary meal but, lacking a proper kitchen, he could only do so much. He’d made a hash along with some peach cobbler. 
  * There had been roasted vegetables cooked with the turkeys. 
  * Sean and Lenny snuck into town and stole some pies and desserts. 
  * The night had ended with most of the gang getting trashed. 
  * Arthur, chuckling at the memories, sombered up and asked you what Thanksgiving is like now. 
  * Your smile faded. You haven’t had a Thanksgiving in years, thanks to not really having much of a family anymore. 
  * The last one had been the last year your father was alive. 
  * Arthur apologized and hugged you. 
  * “Well, why don’t you and I do one? Just us?” he suggested. 
  * You heartily agreed and were silently grateful you still had the recipes your mom used for this celebration. 
  * The next shopping trip, you bought as many of the ingredients (and most importantly the turkey) as you could in order to get them before they were gone. 
  * Arthur looked at the frozen turkey. You didn’t get a big one, just one of those packets of breast meat since there would only be two of you. He seemed a little put off. 
  * When you asked him why, he said “Just don’t seem as satisfyin’. Buying a turkey from the store. I always caught ours back with the gang.” 
  * You put your hands on his hips and kissed him. “Well, maybe next year, you can go turkey hunting. I’ll get you a license and everything.” 
  * Arthur kissed you softly and thanked you, saying he’d like that. 
  * As the weeks of November went by, the inevitable signs of Black Friday and Christmas were popping up. None of which excited you. In fact, nothing annoys you as much as Black Friday. 
  * Arthur was seeing the ads too. He asked what Black Friday is. 
  * “Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving where, even though people just had this big feast to be grateful for everything they already have, they go insane and spend hundreds of dollars and stand in lines for hours on end while risking getting punched in the face so they can save twenty dollars on a $400 dollar item.” 
  * “You serious?” he said, not hiding the ludicrousy from his voice. 
  * “Yeah. It’s a bullshit holiday. I always just stay home and watch South Park’s rendition of Black Friday.” 
  * Arthur said it shouldn’t really be classified as a holiday and you agree before telling him it’s just a US thing. Other countries don’t do it. Black Friday is the most undeniable form of capitalism that has ever existed. 
  * Along with Black Friday comes the other signs of Christmas. Ads on Youtube playing holiday music and some people in your neighborhood have already put up lawn decorations. 
  * You tell Arthur you don’t really like Christmas, not being religious yourself and not having a proper family. Then you tell Arthur you don’t wanna talk about Christmas because you hate the avaris of the whole thing and want to enjoy Thanksgiving properly this year since you finally have someone to spend it with. 
  * He agreed, figuring you’d tell him about Christmas the closer it got. 
  * Now that Thanksgiving is only days away, you’re getting excited. You’ve just pulled the turkey out to thaw ans Arthur comes up and kisses you. 
  * You love whenever he does this, surprising you with his kisses. 
  * The two of you have not slept together yet, and honestly you’re not quite sure you’re ready for that just yet. Soon probably, but not yet. 
  * Arthur has not been pushy. In fact, he hasn’t even brought up sex or made any kind of advances. 
  * “So, there any Thanksgivin’ movies you folks got?” he asks, figuring there must be as it seems there’s a movie for everything. 
  * “Not really. Unless you count Garfield,” you say, referring to the cartoon cat. 
  * Arthur wants to watch it as he enjoyed the Halloween episode of Garfield, so the two of you sit down. 
  * Arthur pulls you into his lap while it plays. God, he is such a sweetheart. How can he go from being scary as hell to sweet as honey within seconds? 
  * Thanksgiving day comes and you get up early in order to start making pie dough. 
  * You don’t have to start the turkey until a couple of hours before eating, thanks to your trusty Instapot. 
  * Just as you’re starting, Arthur comes into the kitchen, hitching his pants over his union suit. 
  * You have to avert your eyes as his suit hugs his body in the right places, showing the firm muscles of his chest, arms and shoulders. He leans on the doorframe and watches you for a second. He really thinks you’re beautiful and he’s thankful every day for having ran into you. 
  * After a moment, he joins your side. He wants to help you make dinner. 
  * He’s pretty out of his element, rarely having cooked anything proper and never having baked. 
  * Despite that, he’s helpful and eager to learn. You show him how to grind the ingredients together to make it into pie dough. 
  * He tries his hand at it, but seems to struggle. You tell him to just add a little bit of cold water and a lot of elbow grease. 
  * Finally the dough is ready, so you show him how to throw it into a ball and then roll it into a circle and then how to get it into the tin. 
  * Arthur asks if it wouldn’t have been easier to get pre-made dough. 
  * “Gah, no. That stuff is crap. Besides, for Thanksgiving you should make as much by hand as you can.”
  * Arthur is impressed. He didn’t think you knew how to make so much from scratch.
  * Arthur samples the pumpkin pie and he sighs audibly. You have to push him out of the way to stop him from dipping his finger into it for a second time so you can get it into the oven. 
  * While the pie is cooking, you begin another batch of dough, but this one is different as it is meant to make rolls. 
  * Arthur likes working with this dough much better as it’s more stretchy and doesn’t take as much pressing. 
  * When you show him how to grab the dough and toss it hard on the table, he finds it particularly enjoyable. He really likes kneading it too, chuckling when you ask him if he likes it. 
  * “There’s something to this,” he says. You agree that this dough is fun. 
  * Finally the dough is ready to raise. The tricky thing about this recipe is it has to be raised three times, but you learned when you were young how to grow the yeast in order to make it rise quickly. 
  * You and Arthur have about an hour to relax while the dough rises and the pie bakes. 
  * Arthur suddenly pulls you close and suggests the two of you cuddle up on the couch and just watch something that isn’t going to require your commitance. 
  * You blush heavily but agree. You love cuddling with Arthur. He’s warm and soft in just the right places. 
  * He takes you into the living room and plops onto the couch before opening up his arms so you can climb onto him. You do so right after turning on some Netflix. 
  * The second your cheek hits his chest, he starts combing his fingers through your hair. 
  * The two of you watch the show for a bit but neither of you is really interested. You’re more distracted by your company. 
  * You really just want to kiss him. Lately you’ve been thinking about what he might be like in the bed. Something tells you he might not be too bad, though perhaps a little inexperienced or ignorant. Sex ed nowadays is bad enough, it was even worse in his day. 
  * His heart is pounding hard in your ear, and it’s faster than it usually is. Is he thinking along the same vein as you? 
  * Before you can stop yourself, you look up at him and kiss him. He responds enthusiastically. 
  * It isn’t long until you’re fully straddling him, your hands winding in his hair. His hands are gripping your hips almost painfully hard. 
  * As you shift your thigh, you feel something below his belt pressing into your hip. It makes you blush but excites you when you realize what it is. 
  * You stop kissing his lips and instead move down to his neck, sucking on his pressure point. He groans heavily. 
  * Just as you’re about to start working at the buttons of his union suit, the timer for the pie goes off. 
  * “Shit,” you whisper into his neck. He’s panting a bit beneath you. 
  * If it weren’t Thanksgiving, you’d say fuck it and keep going with Arthur. But you want today to be special. 
  * So you resolve yourself and get up, not looking at him as you go into the kitchen to pull out the pie. 
  * You expect Arthur to be practically behind you, but he isn’t. Even when you go to the roll dough and pound it down for the second rise, he doesn’t come. 
  * You blush again when you realize you left him half baked and he’s probably working on taking care of things. 
  * Part of you wants to go and help him, but you know you really shouldn’t. Right now isn’t a good time. So you decide to just carry on with cooking and give him five minutes. 
  * Before his time runs out, he strolls into the kitchen, a pink tinge to his cheeks. 
  * “Sorry, darlin’. Didn’t mean to leave you with the work.” 
  * “No, it’s fine. And I’m sorry too. Didn’t mean for things to get so far between us.” 
  * He smiles a bit. “I’m not. That was… well, it was nice.” 
  * You smile back a bit and return to the turkey, which sits mostly wrapped in the sink as you’re letting the juice run out. 
  * Arthur gently pushes you aside and takes the turkey from you. He delicately strips it of its wrappings while you get out the spices. 
  * When the meat sits inside the Instapot with all the spices and oils, Arthur takes a curious sniff. He hums appreciatively. 
  * By the time the turkey’s set to cook, you find the roll dough is ready to be rolled out. So you show Arthur how to roll it out into a circle, how to cut the dough into crescent shapes. 
  * After they’ve been rolled and buttered, you put them in your room, on your bed, and turn on your space heater and close the door. 
  * By the time the rolls are set to go, you have to start making mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables. 
  * The mashed potatoes are a tried and true recipe so they don’t take too much effort. 
  * The vegetables are different as you’ve never done them before. But the spices make them smell good. 
  * Once all the food is cooking to the point you don’t need to do anything, you and Arthur give the kitchen a quick clean and begin setting up the table.
  * Luckily you have your grandmother’s china (your mom didn’t want it). You’ve rarely used it as it’s only for special occasions. 
  * Arthur inspects the china, noting the hand painted designs on the edges of the plates. He’s obviously impressed. 
  * Finally everything is ready to be set out. You and Arthur sit down, but you feel a little awkward. It’s been so long since you had a proper Thanksgiving you’re not really sure what you should do. Should you say what you’re grateful for?
  * You look at Arthur questioningly and his face says he’s thinking of the same thing. 
  * He clears his throat. “Darlin’, I know what I’m grateful for. I’m real thankful for havin’ run into you that day all them months ago. You saved my life and, well…” He blushes a bit and looks away. You’re blushing too.
  * He looks back at you, his eyes bright. “Darlin’, I love you.” 
  * Your eyes widen. He loves you? 
  * You huff a little and return his smile. “I love you too, Arthur. I’m most grateful this year for that day too. I wasn’t the only one who was saved that day.” 
  * If you were close to him, you’d lean over and kiss him, but as you’re separated by the table, all you can do is reach your hand over and grab his. 
  * He returns the gesture and squeezes yours. 
  * Dinner turns out to be surprisingly good. Better than you’d hoped seeing as you haven’t cooked this much or this complicated in years, and some of the recipes were new to you. You even pulled out some of your good wine.
  * Arthur heavily enjoys the meal. He excitedly dives into having seconds. 
  * After you’ve both gorged yourself, you and Arthur retreat to the couch again to wait out the guaranteed stupor that is to follow. 
  * You’re embraced in his grasp like before, but you don’t end up in a make out session. In fact, your mind doesn’t even wander into the direction of anything sexual. 
  * For the next two or so hours, you both slip in and out of your sleepy states while watching Netflix. 
  * Arthur likes brushing your hair. He’d never say it out loud, but he loves the way your body feels pressed against his.
  * He’s not thinking about sex either as he realizes this. You just feel comforting and warm. 
  * By the time the sun has properly set, you and Arthur go into the kitchen again and pull out the pumpkin pie.
  * “Oh, I’ve been excited for this,” Arthur admits eagerly.
  * You giggle as you lay on the whipped cream. 
  * The pie turns out to be just as good as the dinner. 
  * On his last bite, Arthur comes up to you, puts his hands on your hips and kisses you.
  * You can taste the pie and cream on his lips, but you enjoy it. 
  * As you kiss him, you wonder where your next steps in your relationship will take you. Unsurprisingly, you’re excited to find out. 



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Commentary is greatly appreciated! Please don't think I won't read what you send me, because there isn't a single one I haven't read!


	13. Christmas Tree, My Christmas Tree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 of probably 3 for the Christmas series.

  * The weekend after Thanksgiving, you decided to put up your Christmas decorations with Arthur. 
  * You haven’t celebrated Christmas in years, not since your father died really. It truly is your least favorite holiday as it’s hard to watch everyone else be happy with their families while you’ve been left wishing you had one and watching your mother choose her latest boyfriend over you year after year. 
  * However, Arthur is already more of your family than your mother ever was, so you feel it’s only right to celebrate it with him. 
  * Most of your decorations were your father’s favorites, and funnily enough, a lot of them include deer. Fitting, oddly enough, since Arthur’s animal with high honor is a stag. 
  * Arthur really likes the deer symbols on the decorations. When you tell him about your father and how much you miss him, he pulls you into a hug. 
  * “You know, Hosea was the closest thing I ever knew to a good father. I miss him all the time. Point is, I know how you’re feeling. We can help each other this Christmas, hmm?” 
  * You kissed him, somewhat tearfully. 
  * You still haven’t slept with him, even though you came very close on Thanksgiving. However, Arthur has been a gentleman and has not pushed it. Perhaps he’s as nervous as you. 
  * You don’t have a tree to put up, mostly because your mom took the tacky fake one when she moved out and since you haven’t really celebrated Christmas, you never bothered to replace it. 
  * So you and Arthur go to a couple of stores to try and find one. But Arthur hates the fake trees. Seeing as where he comes from, you suppose you can’t blame him. 
  * You decide to look at live trees. But you’ll have to buy one a little closer to the middle of the month seeing as live trees are only good for about 2-3 weeks. 
  * On the first weekend of December, you sit down with Arthur and watch some of the classic cartoons of Christmas, such as Peanuts, Rudolph and the Grinch (you’ll save the Jim Carrey one for later). 
  * Arthur finds some of the characters of Rudolph to look a little creepy, but he likes the story. 
  * He’s not a fan of the message of the Grinch. You ask him why and he explains that Christmas cannot entirely change a person. 
  * You ask him what Christmas was like in the gang. 
  * He explains it wasn’t too dissimilar from Thanksgiving because gift giving wasn’t huge for the gang as money was tight and owning a lot of things wasn’t practical for their lifestyles. Most of the time, the gang just gathered for a huge dinner and some singing and some light gift giving. 
  * Every year though, Sean or Lenny usually pulled some pranks that usually sent either Dutch or Hosea into a screaming fit (usually Dutch). 
  * Arthur chuckles a little bit while recalling Christmas with the gang, but then he grows somber. “You mind if I don’t talk about it though? Still… hard to think I’m never gonna have another one with them.” 
  * Arthur’s aware of the fact that if he’d remained where he came from, he’d certainly be dead by this point thanks to his TB. 
  * You hug him in response, realizing how painful it’s been for him to detach from those who were closest to him like this. 
  * “I just want to try out this new life with you, darlin’,” he says when you mention his struggles. “I’ve tried my life and I know where it leads. This life is a mystery though. I wanna see where it takes me. Takes us.” 
  * Arthur helps you put up your outdoor solar lights, carefully wrapping it around the trees and porch of your home. 
  * He likes the colors of the lights and how different they make your house look. 
  * After a few days, you show him one of your favorite childhood Christmas movies Home Alone (1 and 2). 
  * Arthur likes the music for it a lot (and you tell him it’s John Williams). 
  * He loves the message of it, that even though families are dysfunctional and not everyone gets along, they still care about each other. 
  * Arthur takes comfort in that, even though he wasn’t always the nicest big brother to John, he wasn’t a jerk like Buzz was to Kevin. 
  * On the tenth, you and Arthur go to a live Christmas tree lot and look for the perfect tree. Arthur finds one that he loves the shape of and is the right size to fit in your living room. 
  * For the next couple of days, you manage to find lights, tinsel and, with the help of Etsy and a little bit of Amazon, you manage to find some decorations that fit you and Arthur. 
  * You manage to find at Target 3 beautiful golden stag heads. You have no doubt you have to buy them. 
  * A few days after buying the tree, Arthur helps you put the tree up in its stand. He does the heavy lifting and you tighten the tree into its stand. 
  * Arthur is a lot more festive than you thought he would be, demanding there be pretty music playing while the two of you decorate. You find it incredibly endearing. 
  * By the time the tree’s done, Arthur stands back and proudly inspects it, nodding in appreciation. 
  * “Take out your camera,” he says. 
  * Confused, you take it out and hand it to him. He tells you to flip the camera so the screen’s camera is on. 
  * When it’s pointed at you, he leans in and kisses you. Instinctively, you take a few pictures. 
  * Arthur chooses the picture he likes the most. “I want that one printed. I’d like to keep it with me when you’re not around.” 
  * When it’s time for bed, you take Arthur’s hand and lead him into the bedroom. Not to have sex with him, but you just don’t want to be apart from him. 
  * Arthur doesn’t press it either. As always, he’s the perfect gentleman. 
  * He does spoon you however, holding you tight against him. 
  * You can feel him smiling as his lips brush your neck. 
  * “Thank you so much, darlin’,” you hear him whisper as you drift off. “I don’t know if you know how much this means to me, or how much you’ve changed my life. I can never thank ya enough.” 
  * It’s obvious he thinks you’re asleep at this point, so you don’t move or give him any sign you’re awake. 
  * He doesn’t say anything else though, his arms just wind tighter around you as he settles down to sleep. 
  * You drift off soon after, your heart warmed and feeling a gentle heat simmering in your stomach. Who knew Arthur Morgan was such a romantic? 



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think! Also, I need some advice from my readers. Are y'all okay with no smut, or do you want it to happen? I honestly don't know if it's time!


	14. Counting Stars - Pt 2 of Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it was put to a vote at the end of last chapter if there should be a smut scene. Literally every person who commented said they'd like it. One of them (you know who you are) stated they'd be interested in a smut scene from Arthur's perspective and that got me thinking. Now please know that I know so damn little about what it's like from a guy's perspective, having always been and identified as a female myself, and I don't really read male-on-male smut, so this is 100% new and experimental for me! That being said, I may have some things wildly off! Anyways, enough excuses, enjoy this mostly smutty chapter with a hint of Christmas (because let's face it, most of us are getting fucked one way or another at this time of year, especially this year!)

  * Arthur wakes up, still lying in your bed. He’s on his back and he feels the weight of your arm draped across his stomach. 
  * Your face is buried in his upper arm. He hears you snore once, very softly, and it makes him smile. 
  * He’s fallen head over heels for you in the past few months, and the fact that last night you wanted him in your bed meant a lot to him. The only time he’s been in your bed before was during the earthquake and you were too scared to sleep alone. 
  * You weren’t scared last night. It was obvious you just didn’t want to be alone or be parted from him. He wishes he could tell you how special that is to him. 
  * Even if he was good with words, he doubts he’d even be able to tell you his feelings. 
  * He tries not to move, not wanting to disturb you in your sleep. 
  * You shift around a bit, and he’s pretty sure you’re going to wake up soon. 
  * After a few moments, you do. 
  * “Morning,” you say groggily and instantly plop onto his chest, closing your eyes.
  * He chuckles, his hand going up to your head so his fingers can wind through your hair. 
  * For some reason, his heart is pounding faster than the situation calls for. He knows you can hear it. You say nothing however. 
  * He doesn’t say anything either, wanting to allow you to wake up a bit more.
  * His mind betrays him though and soon he’s thinking back to Thanksgiving, the last time you’d both had that steamy makeout session. 
  * What he wouldn’t have given to have made love to you then. You had turned him on so much, but then that damn pie…
  * He blushes and his stomach drops when he feels his body reacting to the memories. He’s growing stiff. Oh God, why now? He just hopes you don’t notice. 
  * But notice you do. He sees the pink tinge on your cheeks when you look up at him. 
  * “Sorry, darlin’,” he says, feeling incredibly ashamed. 
  * “Don’t be,” you say and suddenly you're kissing him. 
  * He lets out a quick breath when you slide along his body to straddle him. He grows stiffer. 
  * He can’t help but moan into your mouth as your hands plant onto his chest, your lips and tongue moving with his own. 
  * He wraps his arms around you, wanting you even closer. 
  * He feels the cool air hitting his chest, signalling that you’re unbuttoning his union suit (which he still wears at night purely out of habit). 
  * Suddenly the memories of Eliza and Isaac slams him. He hates himself for grabbing your hand and stopping you just before you reach his navel. 
  * “I… I can’t, darlin’.” 
  * “What’s wrong?” you say, looking at him. Your eyes tell him how hurt you are. He knows you must think he doesn’t love you enough to do this. 
  * “It’s not you, darlin’, I promise. I… I just… I don’t want us to suffer from a lifelong mistake because we couldn’t control ourselves.” 
  * You sigh, your warm breath washing over his face. In the dawn’s light streaming in from the window, you look so beautiful and desirable. 
  * “Arthur, we don’t have to worry about that. I have some things to prevent that.”
  * You roll off of him, open a drawer in your nightstand and pull out a thin, foil package. 
  * You take a moment to explain condoms to Arthur. He knows about them, of course. After all, there were similar things to them even in his day. 
  * “They ain’t always effective though, sweetheart,” he says. 
  * “No, but it helps for me to be on the pill,” you say. When he gives you a questioning look, you explain birth control pills. You’ve been on them for a long time now in order to control your hormones (plus it helps with your adult acne, especially with the covid masks). 
  * Arthur feels as though he’s seen the light at the end of the tunnel. He smiles at you and opens his arms, welcoming you back into them. 
  * However you surprise him when you don’t straddle him again. 
  * Instead you rip open the rest of his union suit, completely exposing him. He loves the way your eyes drink in the site of his body, despite him thinking he's not attractive.
  * He gasps as the cool air hits his most intimate area. He blushes when he sees you gazing at his cock, which has somewhat deflated since he tried to be responsible. 
  * Suddenly your hands are on his length. He gasps, mostly because your hands are cold, but it was also not what he expected. 
  * He loves the way you massage him, bringing him back to his full potential. He tries to keep his hips from bucking, but you’re working such magic on him, it’s difficult. 
  * He can’t help but let out a few thrusts, intertwined with his groans. 
  * “Oh God, darlin’,” he utters when your fingers slip over his head and study him there. He can feel himself hurtling towards his release, but he wants to hold it off. He wants to show his control. 
  * However that is taken completely out of his hands when you circle his head and then, gripping him tight, slide down his shaft and to his hilt. 
  * He closes his eyes as his seed erupts from him. 
  * He opens his eyes to see you staring at him, a small smile on your face. 
  * “How was that?” you ask. 
  * “That was… think I should return the favor,” he says. Immediately he gets up and tackles you, pushing you to the bed. You giggle as he hovers over you. 
  * He’s hit with an uncontrollable desire to see you, all of you, and to feel you in his hands. 
  * He bends down to kiss you, but his hands go to the hem of your shirt and lift it up. 
  * With some adjustments, he gets your shirt off and then he stares unashamedly at your breasts. 
  * He likes the way they move as you breathe hard and fast. His hands slide onto them, pressing them. He likes it even more the way they mold to the shape of his palms and then pop back into shape when he lets go. 
  * Your nipples pucker out, begging for him. He has no choice but to give in. 
  * He leans down and takes one into his mouth, sucking on it. He loves the way you groan as he does this. 
  * Your hands wind into his hair, egging him on. He moves to the other breast, wanting to give it equal attention. 
  * “Arthur,” you say breathily. 
  * He realizes you must be wanting him down lower. So as he continues to enjoy your nipples, his hands work on your lounge pants and he pulls them down. 
  * The moment you’re completely naked, your legs wrap around his trunk. 
  * Just as he’s about to begin pumping himself back up to performing action, you stop him. 
  * “Arthur, wait. Will…. Will you use this?” 
  * You twist your body around and reach into your nightstand again. He’s a little confused when you pull out an object that looks a bit like him, only it’s wider and doesn’t have any details such as veins. You press a button and it begins to vibrate hard. 
  * He takes it, thoroughly confused. Upon seeing the look on his face, you briefly explain a clit massager. 
  * Arthur suddenly realizes it’s to bring you to orgasm. The idea of seeing you fall apart under him makes him hard again. 
  * He’s only been with two women in the past (Eliza and Mary). He made Eliza orgasm two or three times and it was one of the most beautiful things he’d ever seen. (Mary never did it for him, but he never thought she enjoyed their sessions.)
  * He wasn’t as in love with Eliza as he is with you. Seeing you come apart because of him would be the best thing he could possibly give you. 
  * He looks into your beautiful, pleading eyes. 
  * After inspecting the buttons on your toy, he dips it down between your legs and then presses it against you. 
  * The immediate gasp brings his cock back to life. 
  * Already, you’re groaning and writhing under him from the effects of the toy. He swirls it around your clit, wanting you to enjoy every bit of it. 
  * His eyes leave yours, travel down your body and to your slit where he sees the toy working its wonders. 
  * He wants to know what you feel like on the inside when you’re so excited. His hand leaves your knee and he travels to your folds. 
  * You say nothing, but you groan and thrust your hips hard when he slips two fingers into your opening. 
  * “Arthur. Oh God, Arthur,” you hiss as he explores your opening with his fingers. 
  * He realizes that he makes you incredibly horny, and he wants to be enjoying this ecstasy with you. His cock certainly agrees with him. 
  * So with some slightly difficult maneuvering, he manages to get the condom out and rolled over his length. 
  * He keeps the toy pressed to you for most of the process, but you whine whenever it leaves you. 
  * Finally he’s ready to dive in, and dive in he does. 
  * He presses the toy to you a little harder, making you moan again. That’s when he buries his cock into you. 
  * You wince just a little as another moan escapes your lips. He lets out a gasp as he slips all the way to his hilt into you. 
  * God, he never wants to forget how good you feel with your walls pressing around his length. 
  * He begins to buck into you, but the movement forces the toy to slip from his grasp and away from you. 
  * However, you don’t seem to notice too much and your hips thrust in time with his. 
  * Arthur plants his hands on either side of you, pumping his cock hard into you. 
  * He loves the way your legs wrap around him, further anchoring him to you. 
  * However, he notices you’re not writhing as much as you were with the toy. But he doesn’t want to use that on you anymore. He wants to prove he can make you orgasm with his own body. 
  * He leans down so he can kiss you, which is immediately returned. Then he glides his lips to your neck and he finds a soft spot, which he begins to suck. 
  * Your hands are on his back, and they gently claw him in time with his pounding. 
  * He wants you to come for him so badly, to feel you turn into jelly with him still inside to feel that euphoria. 
  * So he takes one hand and slides it between your sweating bodies and then presses a few fingers right between your legs. 
  * You’re completely soaked, instantly lubricating his fingers. 
  * He doesn’t mind and he begins stroking the nub that he finds. Your reaction is immediate and you’re soon writhing under him again. 
  * He continues to pump into you, rubbing you. 
  * Your moans are enough to make him go off, but he’s determined to hold it this time. 
  * “Arthur… Arthur… oh God… I’m gonna… Arthur, I… I… Arthur!” you yell just as your back suddenly arches under him, your fingernails suddenly dig into his back. The best feeling is when he feels your walls clench and pulse around his cock. 
  * It brings him right to his own orgasm. He thrusts as hard as he can into you, feeling his hot seed flood out of him. 
  * He comes crashing down from the clouds, slowly becoming aware of your hot, sweating body beneath his own. He lifts himself up to allow you to breathe. 
  * Although he’s softening, he remains inside of you. God, he didn’t know you could turn him on that much. 
  * As he watches you come down from your own high, he brushes a few strands of hair off your face, smiling as your eyes open to meet his. 
  * “Oh God, Arthur. That was…” 
  * “Amazin’.” He bends down and kisses you again. 
  * For most of the morning, the two of you stay in your room and continue to fuck. 
  * You only get up in order to feed and take your dog Sage outside. 
  * As soon as she’s done though, he tackles you right back to the bed. 
  * By lunchtime, you’re both worn out. Arthur’s on his back again with your head pressed to his chest. Part of him wonders if his cock will ever work properly again based on how many times you made him release, but he doesn’t care. It was worth it. 
  * You move a bit gingerly, showing how sore you are. 
  * “You okay, darlin’?” he asks, painfully aware of how hard he was on you. 
  * “Yeah. I’ll be okay in a bit.” 
  * After a long while of cuddling, you and Arthur finally get up in order to get some food.
  * Both of you put on some leisure clothes (Arthur just slips into some lounge pants you bought him a while ago when it was still hot at night). 
  * As soon as you get into the kitchen, you groan out of frustration. 
  * “What is it?” he asks, then he looks outside.
  * Big fat flakes of snow are twirling around, thick and heavy. Arthur approaches the window, staring out at it. 
  * Of course, back before the events of the game, he’d been to Utah (even before it was a state). But most of his time was spent down south, where the rocks are red and the lands juts up in dangerous but beautiful formations. 
  * He’s never been to Utah when it was winter and snowing. He’s unaware that even in places like Bryce Canyon it snows, despite being a desert. 
  * Arthur thinks it’s beautiful. After all, he never thought he’d live to see the snowfall again after he got sick. 
  * Even now, he still feels the subtle rattling in his chest. He’s aware he’ll probably have it the rest of his life. The result of the scarring in his lungs. 
  * As he thinks on how different his life is from how he thought it would be, he feels your arms suddenly wrap around him and your head leaning on his bare back. 
  * “Hey,” he says softly, turning in your grasp so he can wrap his arms around you and kiss your head. He loves the way your hair smells. 
  * You smile up at him and he bends down to kiss you gently, so differently from all the kisses this morning. 
  * As the day progresses, the snowstorm quickly turns into nothing short of a blizzard. 
  * It’s a good thing you had nothing planned for tonight, but you do have tickets for the zoo’s Christmas lights tomorrow night. Both of you hope the storm stops by then. 
  * For now though, you decide it’s probably best to just snuggle up on the couch with some hot chocolate and watch some Christmas movies. 
  * Arthur agrees to this idea (especially the cuddling part). 
  * The first movie you put on is Polar Express. 
  * Arthur finds something about the characters to be a little unnerving. He’s not really sure what it is. 
  * You explain the theory of uncanny valley and how a lot of people find the animation to be a little creepy.
  * Arthur really doesn’t like the movie much. Not only because of the animation but because of how unrealistic they portrayed the steam engine. Since those were the only trains he was around before, you suppose he knows a lot more about them than you do. 
  * You explain they had to try to turn a ten page book into a two hour movie. He still doesn’t like it. 
  * You agree that it’s not your favorite movie either, mostly because it pushes the idea of the capitalism behind Christmas a little too much. 
  * After Polar Express, you turn on the Grinch with Jim Carrey. 
  * Arthur loves this version of the Grinch, mostly because even after his heart grows, the Grinch is still a sarcastic bastard. 
  * He finds the makeup a little creepy at first, but then he gets used to it, especially when he realizes it looks pretty damn close to the cartoon. 
  * By the time evening is falling, the snow is finally slowing down, but it’s left a few inches of snow on the ground. 
  * The two of you continue to just sit and watch Christmas shows on Netflix, mostly the Great British Baking Show (which he surprisingly likes). 
  * Just as it’s about the time you normally go to bed, Arthur sees you yawning. 
  * “Come on, sweetheart. Think that bed’s callin’ your name.” 
  * You’re grateful when Arthur doesn’t try pressing you into having sex as you are getting sore between your legs. Hopefully it’ll be better tomorrow.
  * In the morning, you wake up before Arthur does. 
  * After putting on a bathrobe (feeling sure Arthur will want you naked again once he’s awake), you get up to make some coffee. 
  * There’s nearly a foot of snow outside. It clearly snowed a good chunk of the night. 
  * Arthur surprises you when you turn and bump right into him. 
  * “Ain’t you cold?” he asks, seeing you in nothing but your bathrobe. It makes you blush, but your heart warms at the thought that he didn’t just immediately attack you. After all, you are pretty sore between your legs, despite hoping for the opposite. It’s been a long time since you slept with a man. 
  * “A little,” you admit. 
  * “Why don’t you go put somethin’ real on?” he says, but you note he’s only wearing his lounge pants again. 
  * “And what about you? You ain’t exactly wearing warm clothes.” 
  * He chuckles and puts his hands on your shoulders. “Mm. Maybe I was hopin’ to find somethin’ real beautiful in my bed when I woke and put on just enough to find ya.” 
  * You can’t help but blush again. 
  * As you predicted, the two of you end up making love a few more times throughout the day before you have to go to the zoo tonight for their lights. 
  * Most of the time you make love, it’s in your room. 
  * There was one point on the couch when you were watching a show with Arthur, but the two of you got bored of it and just started going at it. 
  * You sincerely hoped no one can see through your thin curtains from outside. 
  * “Guess we woulda given ‘em quite a show then, hmm?” Arthur chuckled underneath you on the couch when you confided in him. He earned a teasing smack on the chest for that. 
  * By the time you need to start getting ready to go to the zoo, you’re sexually exhausted. Arthur seems to be as well. 
  * After both of you take a shower (separately), you bundle up in your warmest clothes and head on up to Utah’s Hogle Zoo. 
  * Every year, the zoo decorates the park with seasonal lights. A lot of them are animated or move. 
  * Arthur holds your hand the entire time you’re driving (luckily the roads have been plowed and salted, proving to be fairly easy to navigate). He was a romantic before, but now that you’ve made love, he seems to be even more so. 
  * Even when you park and get out of the car, Arthur grabs your gloved hand in his own, further warming yours. 
  * Once inside, you’re immediately greeted with a huge structure of lights, forming a giraffe feeding at a tree. The lights flicker, making it look like the giraffe’s neck and head is moving. 
  * Arthur loves all the lights and how creative they are. Each structure is themed with animals. Some of them don’t move though. 
  * There isn’t a single tree throughout the park that isn’t lit. 
  * Arthur’s never seen lights to this extent. Sure, he’s seen the neighborhood lights when you’ve been out together in the car or walking your dog. 
  * Of course, most of them around your home don’t move. They might flicker on and off, but that’s about it. 
  * When the two of you reach the pit that marks where the bird show happens in summer, you see a long string of lights and structures. They flash and move in time with the song “Twelve Days of Christmas”.
  * The song has just started, and Arthur insists on watching all of it. Even after you complain that it’s about ten minutes, he doesn’t care. He wants to see it all. 
  * As the song plays, he wraps his arms around you when he notices you shivering. You instantly cuddle up tight against him, seeking his warmth. Luckily Arthur runs hot. 
  * You love how he looks in his old gambler’s hat, wrapped in his blue coat (he’d returned to the game when it started getting cold just to get some clothes he knew would be warm). 
  * You can’t help but kiss him as the song ends. 
  * Arthur suggests getting something hot to drink when the lights dim, which you happily agree to. 
  * You buy some hot chocolate. Arthur’s still pretty new to this drink and has only tasted the brand you’ve gotten. He really likes this kind though, especially since they added tiny marshmallows. 
  * Arthur asks where the actual animals are, seeing as this is a park about animals. 
  * You explain that, due to it being winter and night, most are in their inside enclosures. 
  * So when you get to the polar/Alaskan themed area, Arthur is thoroughly pleased to see that part of the seal/sea lion enclosure is inside a heated building. 
  * He’s disappointed though to see the water is quiet and empty. Again, you explain that the animals are inside, probably sleeping. 
  * Arthur’s a bit disappointed, until he gets to the bear den. 
  * He’s immediately shocked to find two grizzly bears curled up inside the den. You don’t blame him, knowing exactly how terrifying these bears are in the game. 
  * However, the bears are completely unphased by your presence. Hell, they clearly couldn’t care less as they’re snoozing in the corner. 
  * After the Alaskan area, you both head to the Asian Highlands, an area with only Asian cats. 
  * Surprisingly the tiger is out and prowling around her enclosure. Most people are in the enclosed area of her viewing where there’s heat lamps for people to gather under. 
  * You and Arthur choose to go outside and see her, cuddling together for warmth. 
  * Arthur watches the tigress intently. You know from the game the only big cats he’s seen are cougars, Florida panthers and lions (thanks to Miss Margaret). 
  * After a while, Arthur decides he wants to move on. 
  * You lead him over to where the wolves are. Or… where the wolves were last time you were here. 
  * Instead of the beautiful gray wolves that were here before, the sign says red fox. What happened to the wolves? 
  * Arthur sees another sign on the other side of the enclosure. 
  * “Says here the last survivin’ wolf was sent to a sanctuary. Says they will not be having wolves again because the wild populations are healthy enough to no longer need them in zoos for breeding programs.” 
  * You smile at this. The zoo will never again have wolves, but for the best possible reason. 
  * Arthur’s seen enough foxes, he doesn’t care to see them now. Besides, they’re sleeping. 
  * Instead you head into the round building right next to the foxes called the Small Animal Building. You really want to show him the inside as the center is a bubble of a real rain forest, complete with the same pink spoonbills you can find outside Saint Dennis. 
  * Unfortunately, due to it being night and the pandemic, the doors are locked. 
  * The last thing to see here is the carousel, which is surprisingly running despite the pandemic. 
  * Arthur’s enchanted by the sight. He loves the colors and instead of it being horses, it’s different animals such as lions and okapis. 
  * Despite you not really caring about the carousel as you’ve seen it a hundred times, Arthur asks to watch it for a moment. He thinks it’s fascinating to watch this massive contraption move like this purely for the entertainment of children and their parents. 
  * It’s beginning to snow again when the two of you leave for the gates. However, you see that at the restaurant, they’re selling churros. Arthur certainly has never had one.
  * You buy two of them and immediately dig into yours.
  * Arthur’s a bit taken aback by it, until he bites into it. 
  * “This is… amazin,” he says, brushing sugar from his lips. 
  * “Knew you’d like it.” 
  * By the time you get home, it’s time to get ready for bed as you do have to work in the morning. 
  * You have enough time to watch an episode of British Baking Show.
  * Arthur’s clearly worn out as he ends up passing out on the couch underneath you where you’d been cuddling with him. 
  * You turn off the show and wake Arthur up so you can turn in. You fully expect him to fall asleep immediately when he gets into bed. 
  * However, he pulls you down to cuddle with him. You’re worried he’s going to try and make love again. 
  * Instead he just holds you. Just as he’s drifting off, you kiss his chin. 
  * “Mm, you’re my girl,” he mumbles. 
  * You feel a bit like the Grinch in that your heart seems to grow three sizes. 



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cringe. Please leave a comment! I'm open to constructive criticism!


	15. An Eve to Remember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So one of my wonderful readers sent in an idea to add into this scenario, and I'm very happy to say it fit into it perfectly. I hope it lives up to your expectations, my friend!   
> Their request was: some cookie making with playful fighting that ends with both covered in sugar, dough, and of course frosting! With a sweet kiss ;)

  * Christmas is rapidly approaching 
  * You’re getting nervous about it, even though you’re prepared for the most part
  * You’ve bought a couple of gifts for Arthur, nothing too big or expensive. Not because you don’t have the money, but you have a feeling he wouldn’t really appreciate it. Arthur is not a material man
  * You’re pretty sure Arthur has gotten a couple of things for you as well. Mostly because you taught him how to do some online shopping some time ago and you’ve seen the empty shipping boxes in your recycling bin
  * Once in a store, Arthur saw stockings. You didn’t have any of course, having not celebrated Christmas in a long time. He insisted that you should both get some as he wanted to celebrate it properly. 
  * You’ve both got stockings as well as things to fill them with. 
  * For Arthur, you’ve gotten him some of his favorite candies that he’s explored so far (he really likes chocolate covered almonds). 
  * But he’s also a pretty big fan of jerky. 
  * All your presents for him are wrapped and under the tree. There’s a few under there for you. 
  * For the first time since your father died, you’re feeling excited for the day. Not as much as when you were a kid of course, but there’s still some anticipation there. 
  * You can tell Arthur is excited too. He tries to hide it, but it’s obvious. 
  * The two of you are still having lots of sex. 
  * He’s the best partner you’ve ever had in the bedroom. Sure, he doesn’t know a lot of the modern day tricks or toys, but he’s a fast learner. 
  * The best part about him is he never leaves you half baked during a session. He always makes sure you get your satisfaction.
  * Your relationship with him has grown stronger the more you’ve made love. Arthur seems to be more crazy about you as well. 
  * It’s a few days before Christmas and you’ve just come home from work. Arthur greets you with a kiss as he’s more prone to doing. 
  * As you take off your shoes, Arthur asks if you know how to make cookies. 
  * “Depends. What kind?” you ask. 
  * Arthur is a bit surprised to find out there’s multiple kinds of cookies. He shrugs his shoulders. “Just the ones with that frosting.”
  * He admits he saw a photo on your computer of some sugar cookies and he wanted to try them. 
  * Of course, you can’t resist his eagerness. So after dinner, you pull up a fairly simple recipe. Luckily you have all the ingredients at hand. 
  * Arthur does his best to help you, but he’s still pretty new to baking. Sometimes he can be a bit more of a nuisance than a help, but you don’t mind. You know he doesn’t do it on purpose. 
  * When the first batch of cookies go in the oven and you begin preparing the frosting, Arthur dips his finger in it to taste it. 
  * “Hey! No tasting before it’s done!” you playfully scold. 
  * Arthur winks at you and moves to dip his finger back in. You slap his hand. 
  * Things quickly escalate and you’re both flicking flour and sugar at one another. Normally you’d never let your kitchen get this dirty, but you’re having too much fun to really care. 
  * Arthur’s much better at smacking you with the powders than you are. Probably thanks to his good aim. 
  * The oven timer dings, signalling that the first batch of cookies are done. Shit, you never got around to cutting out your second batch because you were fighting with Arthur. 
  * He pulls them out, appreciatively sniffing as the smell hits him in the face. 
  * “Mm, shame we gotta wait.” 
  * “Come on, big guy. Let’s finish this frosting so we can eat them sooner.” 
  * When he puts the cookies down, he comes over to you. 
  * “You got some sugar on your cheek,” he says. Instead of brushing it away with his hand, he bends down and kisses your cheek. 
  * He’s got you trapped between him and the counter, which you don’t mind. 
  * His lips move from your cheek to your lips. With his hands on your hips, you drape your arms across his firm shoulders. You rub the scruff of his chin and he sighs. 
  * Already it’s easy to see where things will lead. You almost want to grab the frosting and use it on your bodies, but you end up not. 
  * When you’re both done in the bedroom, Arthur comes out with you to help clean up the kitchen. 
  * The cookies turn out pretty good. 
  * Christmas Eve comes. You have to work, but you’ll be done by mid afternoon. Luckily you’re also working from home, so it’ll make your evening a little easier. 
  * Despite how boring it will be for him, Arthur insists on staying with you while you work. He just wants to keep you company. 
  * Over the last couple of weeks, you’ve been introducing Arthur to some simpler video games you’ve been able to get for free on your console (you have not introduced him to Red Dead yet and you probably won’t for a long time). 
  * He’s pretty shabby at them, mostly because he still hasn’t quite figured out how to use the controller without looking at it. 
  * He never plays without you being home, but seeing as you’re working, you encourage him to play in order to keep him busy. 
  * He tries not to ask a lot of questions as to not interrupt your work, but he ends up asking frequently, which you don’t mind. 
  * Finally your shift ends and you can quit for the rest of the holiday. Arthur’s ecstatic about it. 
  * For dinner, you do what your family used to do, in that you make a cheese fondue, some marinated steak, french bread and some vegetables. 
  * Arthur’s never had a cheese dip before, but he ends up rather liking it. 
  * After dinner, the two of you end up opening your stocking gifts. 
  * You gave Arthur a new swiss knife which he ends up finding quite impressive. 
  * He managed to get you a few small gifts that you never would have thought of. None of them are the typical necklaces or jewelry most guys get. 
  * One of them is a rather unique tree decoration of your favorite animal. It’s your favorite gift by far. 
  * After stockings, you decide to introduce Arthur to Mr. Bean. You only watch the Christmas episode for now, but you’ll introduce the other ones to him later. 
  * At first, Arthur thinks it’s overly silly, but once you get to the scene with the nativity, he’s roaring with laughter (although he doesn’t fully understand some of the props like the dalek). 
  * After that, Arthur’s sold on Mr. Bean, especially after you explain that he’s supposed to be stupid and odd. 
  * His favorite scene ends up being the one where Bean gets his head stuck in the turkey, mostly because it reminds him of the year Pearson was stuffing a huge turkey Arthur had brought into camp and managed to somehow get it stuck around his arm. 
  * When Mr. Bean is done, you don’t have any other Christmas movies to watch (except for the best one which you’ll watch tomorrow). 
  * Instead you and Arthur decide to trade stories of some of your best Christmas memories. 
  * You don’t have a whole lot as they make you sad, seeing as most of them revolve around your father. 
  * Arthur has some good ones though. Especially involving Sean and Lenny. 
  * He does tell one about John when he was a teenager that has you in stitches. 
  * John had been trying to level up to Arthur’s hunting skill and so he’d tried to go and hunt an elk on his own. Of course, things had not gone well for him as the elk, being unafraid and just coming out of the rut season, had chased John. 
  * He’d gotten stuck in a tree and been trapped there by the elk for hours until Arthur, sent out by Dutch, found him. 
  * John had lied about getting trapped and said he was coming up with a strategy to jump onto the elk’s back and ride it like a bronco. 
  * “Well then, show me your plan,” Arthur had said, leaning on the horn of his saddle. 
  * John tried jumping off the tree and onto the still furious elk’s back, but fell out of the tree. 
  * Arthur ended up having to shoot the elk so it didn’t gore John. He was unhurt, aside from a couple of scrapes and a bruised pride. 
  * “John still insists to this day that he could have ridden that elk,” Arthur finishes with a chuckle. “He’s tried telling it from his perspective every year.” 
  * He grows somber after this, clearly still stung by losing so much of his family. You can’t blame him. After all, he could go back, but it would mean his death. Plus the gang’s being torn apart by Dutch and Micah. 
  * Of course, Arthur doesn’t know about Micah, seeing as the last time he was there he was only in the beginning of chapter 6 and just been diagnosed with TB. You don’t have the heart yet to tell him the end results of Dutch’s actions, driven by Micah. 
  * When the two of you decide to turn in for the night, Arthur surprises you by telling you he doesn’t want to have sex. Instead he just wants to cuddle with you. 
  * He turns out to be just as good at cuddling as he is at sex. He just holds your head to his chest, his thumb tracing along your shoulder and back. 
  * You’re just starting to drift off when he kisses your head. “I love you, sweetheart,” he says quietly. 
  * You smile into his chest, but you fall asleep before you manage to say anything to him. 
  * In the morning, you wake up to Arthur spooning you. 
  * Unlike last night, he pulls some moves that lets you know he wants to make love. 
  * Seeing as it’s Christmas morning, you give in. Arthur really pulls out some of his best moves, making it the best session you’ve had so far. It’s so good you almost don’t want to get out of bed. 
  * Too soon though, it’s Arthur who insists on getting out in order to unwrap presents. 
  * Before unwrapping presents though, you decide to cook a big breakfast first. 
  * When your father was still alive, he’d always cook a big breakfast, with all your favorite foods. 
  * Arthur is ecstatic to do the same, saying he’d love nothing more than to give you something to add to those memories. 
  * After stuffing yourself, you and Arthur head into the living room and open presents. 
  * You got him a beautiful pair of white deer antlers you found in a funny little store a few weeks ago. You like this gift because the antlers were dropped and the animal is likely still alive. 
  * Arthur hands you a rather heavy gift and when you open it, you gasp. It’s a block of wood that’s carved into a beautiful eagle. Then Arthur says something that brings tears to your eyes. 
  * “You said your pa loved eagles. So I bought a wood carvin’ set on that Amazon sight and watched some of them Youtube videos.” 
  * “You… you made this, Arthur?” 
  * He blushes and looks down, but his smile says it all. 
  * You wrap your arms around his neck and kiss him. “Arthur, I couldn’t ask for anything so incredible. Thank you.” 
  * Arthur hugs you right back, but he squeezes so tight it’s almost like he doesn’t want to let you go.
  * After gifts, you tell Arthur to sit down and you turn on the best Christmas movie (in your opinion): Christmas Vacation. 
  * Arthur’s laughing by just the cartoon in the beginning. 
  * He absolutely loves Eddie, even though he’s a complete dumbass. He has to admire him for his drive to try and give his kids a good Christmas (even if he isn’t very good at it). 
  * When the movie ends, Arthur says he really likes it and he can see why you save it for last. 
  * As you smile at him, you suddenly recall what he’d said last night in bed. 
  * “By the way, I love you too,” you say. 
  * “Huh?” he says, but he’s blushing. 
  * “You said you loved me last night. I just… wanted to tell you I feel the same.” 
  * Arthur smiles. The kiss he gives you in return is one you will never forget. 



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have an idea you'd like me to write into this fic, please send it on into me! I'm more than happy to try and oblige new ideas.


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